When a friend of ours gave us this Christmas cactus last year, it was loaded with buds. Somehow, I managed to do something so that only one of them bloomed; all the rest fell of. I am not known for having a green thumb, so I figured the plant would be lucky to survive to the new year. Well, not only did it survive, but it seems to have thrived. I was thrilled when I got up Sunday morning and saw it’s first flower of the year. It’s got buds in several stages of development, so it looks like we’ll have blooms for a while.
28 Comments
December 2, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Very nice! I have no green thumb at all.
Lezlie
December 2, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Ooh, purty. And very festive. I only water plants…if they can’t survive on just that, then they’re out of luck. I’m a tough love type of plant person.
December 2, 2008 at 1:10 pm
I kill everything. I think overwatering is my problem.
That cactus is beautiful.
December 2, 2008 at 1:12 pm
I’m with softdrink: All my house plants must be adapted to semi-arid conditions. I keep forgetting to water them!
December 2, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Oooooh, beautiful! Most of my plants died, this year. I like to blamed the husband, since I was gone for the better part of 9 months, but the only plant that was even close to lively was an orchid. I should have just written it off the moment I stepped out the door.
December 2, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Very nice! I’m great at killing plants. My poor daughter buys me plants every Mother’s Day, and they’re lucky to last a month. This last one actually lived until last week. It didn’t need much water, which is my kind of plant, but when you forget to water it for like a month, it takes its toll. LOL
December 2, 2008 at 2:37 pm
I’m with Ti. I kill them with over-love. I’ve been through quite a few Christmas cacti. Congratulations on your perseverance and success!
December 2, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Aren’t they pretty? I have a Christmas cactus that is about 15 years old now. I have only repotted it twice and it isn’t suffering from my neglect!
December 2, 2008 at 4:22 pm
I am a killer of plants! I have tried multiple times over the years as my mother is a gardener and her house is full of plants. The only thing that I’ve gotten to work is buying an amaryllis now at this time of year. I can usually get it to bloom and not have it die until after it blooms. Yeah me!
December 2, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Doh! All that to say, yeah you! I’m proud that you were able to make it last all year and bloom! Woohoo!
December 2, 2008 at 4:25 pm
We have a Christmas cactus that belonged to my grandmother (the woman I was named after) when my mother and her siblings were growing up. They are amazingly hardy plants! My mother took a cutting from her mother’s plant, rooted it, and nourished it into a thriving cactus. We’ve had it since before I was born.
Earlier this year we gave a cutting from our plant to my aunt. She had her own cutting from the original plant, but it died during her cross-country move a few years ago. We sent her a new cutting for her birthday, and she said it was the best gift anyone had ever given her — a tangible piece of her mother, who died thirty years ago.
December 2, 2008 at 4:57 pm
I would like to know what your secret is? I have two Christmas Cacti and I did everything that you are suppose to do and still they are not blooming at all, yet!
December 2, 2008 at 5:44 pm
It’s so pretty!! Mine is still “thinking” about it. Doesn’t know if it wants to bloom or not.
December 2, 2008 at 6:45 pm
That is lovely. If I owned it, it would be a brown desiccated husk. I have a black thumb.
December 2, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Those flowers are so pretty-I love the color. I’m not known for my green thumb at all!
December 2, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Oh gosh! I have been on Twitter so much that I have missed your posts.
I’ve been a very bad blogger…lol!
Love this type of plant. They are so beautiful.
December 2, 2008 at 9:00 pm
What a lovely Christmas cactus. You must have a green thumb, I could kill a plastic plant. I only garden in the summer and even then I rely on survival of the fittest.
December 2, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Excellent job you’ve done taking care of your Christmas Cactus . It’s beautiful!!!!
December 3, 2008 at 12:28 am
Oh it’s so beautiful! About 5 years ago my gram gave me a Christmas cactus that she’s had since the year I was born (1978) and it’s a monster, but when I moved it to another table it stopped blooming – and started again. But now it only blooms in July! Needless to say Gram was not impressed with me
December 3, 2008 at 2:08 am
I didn’t know cactus had such beautiful flowers.
December 3, 2008 at 9:26 am
That is a beautiful plant! I used to have a green thumb, but at some point it must have turned brown….I know my problem is that I don’t water enough! My son picks on me because my plants feeding schedule coincides with when he comes home for a visit from college! So I figure even if I do water them more they would probably die from shock…oh well.
December 3, 2008 at 9:58 am
Very pretty. My husband has taken over all plant responsibilities and the plants have thrived. Go figure.
December 3, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Oh Very very nice… I have never had one of those and I have always wanted one. I might have to treat myself this year.
December 3, 2008 at 6:43 pm
My christmas cactus is never going to bloom.
It’s over seventy years old (really!), and my dad’s got the original plant, but he split the root ball and gave me half. His half recovered from the breakup and is growing and flowering like no one’s business, while mine is all sad and depressed and not dealing with the break-up so well. Yours is beautiful, though!
December 3, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Gorgeous! I love it! My plant is still alive amazingly, though it doesn’t have buds all of the time…I wonder if that’s a bad thing.
December 4, 2008 at 12:53 am
How beautiful! I have a very brown thumb, I’m afraid. Nothing I ever try to grow flourishes–at least in the plant family.
December 5, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Beautiful! I have two that are blooming now. One small cactus with blosssoms that pinkish color of yours. The other is quite large and has deep red blooms. I don’t take care of them AT ALL, forget to water them, etc. Yet they thrive, go figure!
December 7, 2008 at 4:42 pm
How beautiful! I have never seen anything like that before.