About four years ago, I took a cutting of one of the enormous night-blooming cereus plants my parents have growing at our home in San Diego. After moving to Oakland last year, I finally had my first bloom! A single bud blossomed into a miniature version of what I am used to seeing in San Diego. Unfortunately, I wasn’t in town when it happened, but Vienna dried it out for me so I could at least see it upon my return to land.

My little plants have grown as much in the last year in Oakland as they did during three years of life San Francisco, and even in the relative warmth of Oakland they basically stop growing during all of winter and early spring. Last week, I noticed four small buds growing on my plant (excited!). It’s too bad I’m going to miss it when they bloom. :(