Night-blooming cestrum flower pictures to enjoy: the intensely fragrant flower that blooms at night
Night-blooming cestrum is a familiar fragrant ornamental flower, named for the way its blossoms open after nightfall and for their intense scent. What people usually call night-blooming cestrum mostly refers to the evergreen shrub of the genus Cestrum in the Solanaceae family; in some southern regions, the night-blooming flower of the Apocynaceae family is also called night-blooming cestrum. The two are fairly similar in flower shape and fragrance, and both are known for releasing their scent at night.
In appearance, night-blooming cestrum has clustered branches, and its leaves are mostly opposite, long-ovate, emerald green and glossy. Its flowers are slender, tubular or funnel-shaped, and the small yellow-green blossoms open in clusters. The fragrance is faint during the day, then the flowers gradually unfurl toward evening, and the scent is strongest after nightfall, so it is often planted by courtyard windows, making it especially pleasant when enjoying the cool of a summer night.
For care, night-blooming cestrum likes a warm, humid environment with plenty of sunlight, and it is best grown in loose, fertile, well-drained soil. During the growing season, keep the potting soil moist but not waterlogged, fertilize mainly with light applications, and after flowering prune spent flowers and overly dense branches appropriately so the plant's shape stays fuller and more attractive. It is not cold-tolerant, so when winter temperatures are low it needs to be moved indoors or given protection against the cold.
It should be noted that night-blooming cestrum has a strong fragrance at night and is often thought to have some mosquito-repellent effect, but smelling it for a long time may also make people feel uncomfortable, so it is not suitable to keep it in a closed bedroom for long periods. When enjoying pictures of night-blooming cestrum, you can focus on its clustered yellow-green small flowers and its posture as it blooms at night, and appreciate the unique charm of this flower that rests by day and opens by night.
