Sunday, 13 November 2011

Flora : Lady of the night

Lady of the night / Xue Lai Xiang


Lady-of-the-night is a flowering shrub, so named because the flowers bloom only at night. There are a few variants but commonly known as lady of the night.

A vigorous growing plant, it will quickly grow into a small tree size (2~3 meters high with equal spread) if left unpruned. The branches should be nipped at the tip when it is 1~2 feet long to encourage branching for a more bushy plant. Flower stalks are produced along the new branches. Once a branch is exhausted, it need to be pruned back to maintain the plant's size.

The plant thrives in moist, compost rich soil; under full sun or partial shade. Propagation is by green wood cuttings.

The flowers are sweet smelling. In a still night with occasional mild breeze, you can whiff the sweet scent from meters away. But the scent sweetness can be erratic, and of different strength. Cuttings should be made from a proven mother plant of desired traits; i.e. mild sweetness vs. heavily sweet; consistent scent for every flower stalk... or check out another variant/species which may better suit your liking.








No comments:

Post a Comment