Saturday, November 5, 2011

Early Bloomer

In the usual tradition of sharing Christmas Cactus, my plants were given to me by my Mother from a huge plant she's had forever.  She took some divisions from that plant and potted up a couple for me.


Last year, the first year I had them, they bloomed early as well.  They were in full bloom at Thanksgiving.  That wasn't so bad.

This year, as you can see, they're full of buds and they're going to be popping with blooms before Thanksgiving I'm sure.  In the summer months, I keep them outside on the deck where they get about 5 to 6 hours of light every day.  Once the temps start to drop, I move them into my garden window in the kitchen where they receive about 3 or 4 hours of morning light.


After a little a research, it would seem all sorts of variables must be in play to get them to bloom at Christmas.  Much like the poinsettia, water, light, humidity, all in the right amounts are needed at certain times of the year to ensure blooms at Christmas.  

Perhaps when they're done blooming this year, I'll take the necessary steps to ensure they bloom for the time of year intended ~ Christmas.  But for now, I'm going to enjoy the gorgeous blooms this plant provides.


If you'd like to learn more about Christmas Cactus, I found a website devoted to this plant. 




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5 comments:

Kerin said...

They are gorgeous!
Hope they bloom for you for Christmas too :)

Kathy @ Creative Home Expressions said...

It is a beautiful plant, Carla! It looks like those cuttings took right off, too!

Content Director - Strong Female Leaders said...

What a wonderful tradition! The cactus looks stunning.

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Pinky at Designs by Pinky said...

HI Carla, I have a Christmas cactus that blooms at Tahanksgiving and Easter every year! It is about 10 years old now and that is when it blooms:) Mine is about the same color as yours too. Thanks for sharing the link. XO, Pinky

An Oasis in the Desert said...

Wow, it's beautiful! I have a small potted one that I took from the "mother plant" which I chose not to move when we did this summer. I don't think mine even has any buds on it right now, but I really don't think it's getting enough light where it is. I need to consider moving it. On another note, I had a Poinsettia last year that decided to bloom in the late spring/early summer. It was residing in our sunroom & all I did was water & occasionally fertilize it. I have it outside on my patio right now & some of the leaves are starting to get red.

Thanks for stopping by my blog & leaving a nice comment about my new shutters.
:) CAS

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