Moon Flowers.

Years back, I received a letter from a friend. She planted Moon Flowers around her apartment in Washington D.C. The way she described the magic blooms at night has caught my imagination and I always wanted to see the blooms up close.
Last year, the spring season was cold and planting season started only in June. My Moon Flower seeds perhaps have rotted. This past spring I was determined to see my flowers grow and bloom. Ten plants have sprouted from the seeds, but only three survived. I anxiously waited for the blooms. Strangely enough, the first blooms appeared only in September.

What a shape, what an amazing “engineering”! Alas, only once I saw the bloom open up and was able to catch the magic scent in the dusk. The magic would end at the dawn. Closed blooms do not emit sweet scent.

The intricate cones of the flowers stayed for a while, but the sneaky early frost killed the plants before they had fully bloomed and bore seeds.

There is another spring to hope for. I pray that my mom will still be around to see and smell the magic Moon Flowers. I’ll plant them again.