Dragon Fruit or Pitaya is a vining cactus. I received cuttings from my neighbor a few years ago, and last year it actually brought a fruit. Here is an image that shows last year’s flower and ripened fruit.

In the spring we replanted the Dragon Fruit in a larger container and gave it a better central support. Late summer-early fall I got very excited when I noticed not one, but actually six flower buds on the cacti. Last year I successfully hand-pollinated the one and only flower, and I had high hopes of having more fruit this season due to the high number of flowers.

The Pitaya flower only blooms for a very short time; it usually opens at night, and stays open only for 24 maybe 36 hours. During this time, in addition to carefully cross-pollinating the flowers, I also spent a long time taking images of them. This sequence shows what happens to the flower in one and a half days (click to enlarge).

I am very sad to say that none of the fruit set this year, so we will not be enjoying the unusual flavor and texture of this exotic fruit. On the other hand, I really like many of the images I took of the flowers with my Lensbaby lenses. I will share a few of them with you. I hope you’ll enjoy them too.