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| Category: Succulent |
| Family: Cactaceae (Cactus) |
| Origin: Central America (North America) |
| Evergreen: Yes |
| Flower Color: Mixed |
| Bloomtime: Spring/Summer |
| Synonyms: [Epi hybrid] |
| Parentage: (E. Giant Empress (Dentsche Kaiserin) x Fluid Gold) |
| Height: 1-2 feet |
| Width: 2-4 feet |
| Exposure: Shade |
| Irrigation (H2O Info): Medium Water Needs |
| Winter Hardiness: 30-32° F |
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Epiphyllum "Bleck Hybrids" (Bleck's Hybrid Orchid Cactus) – Epiphytic cacti that form a clumps of foliage to 3 to 4 feet across with 2 to 3 foot long broad flat green thorn less stems with lobed edges that act and look a lot like leaves. These leaves radiate outward and in the spring bear flowers in a range of colors from very dark salmon pink through pale yellow and cream – these are day blooming varieties that grow best in bright shade planted in a basket or pot in a well-drained rich soil mix. These plants are pretty tough but perform best when watered weekly and fertilized occasionally in spring and summer months. These plants are all seedlings that resulted in the cross down in 2016 by noted aloe breeder John Bleck between the beautiful starry Epiphyllum x 'Fluid Gold', which itself really is a bigeneric hybrid (sometimes called an Epicactus) that was created by Fred Boutin and the showy Epiphyllum 'Giant Empress', also known as Dentsche Kaiserin, which translates as "German Impress (some maintain these are distinct plants). Epiphyllum 'Giant Empress' has showy light pink flowers that are almost tubular at their base, which is called funnelform. Mr. Bleck's intention in breeding these two plants was to introduce the fragrance of 'Fluid Gold', which has a fragrant Dysocactus in its parentage, into darker colored hybrids. While the range of colors achieved was incredible, with some a very dark salmon color, as yet only the yellow flowering plants have an attractive fragrance. Though this plant is really is a complex hybrid made up from other genera, the name usually associated with them is Epiphyllum, which is a valid name for some epiphytic cactus. The name for the genus Epiphyllum comes from the Greek words 'epi' meaning "top" and 'phylon' meaning leaf in reference to the flowers arising from the leaf-like flattened stems.
The information about Epiphyllum John Bleck Hybrids displayed on this web page is based on our research conducted in the nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also include observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing this plant. |
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