Decades Old Christmas Cactus Passed Down

Does anyone want to chime in with a Thanksgiving or an Easter cactus? Scroll down for info on how to identify which cactus is which.

So many wonderful comments and stories of Christmas cactuses and geraniums which endure for generations. I heard from loyal blog follower and dear friend and neighbor today. Thanks Tookie

Dear Kindred Spirit, Reading  everything you’re posting about your mother’s Christmas cactus.  Please add me to the list of those who have and cherish my mother’s Christmas cactus.  I can remember it on her kitchen window sill when I was in grade school and on and on.  She shared part of her plant with me when we moved to our apartment in Aspinwall in the early seventies.  People fuss at me to repot it in a larger,  clay pot.  I do not, but left it tight and pot bound in the original plastic pot in which she gave it to me.  I love how we value so many of the same things!!!  

Love, Took and Jack too”

Tookie’s Christmas Cactus

“A Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumbergera truncata) is a popular, long-lived, rainforest-native houseplant known for its vibrant flowers that bloom in the fall, often at Thanksgiving. It differs from a Christmas cactus by having pointed, spiny-looking leaf-like stem segments, while Christmas cacti have rounded segments. To care for it, provide bright, indirect light, high humidity, well-draining soil, and water when the soil is dry to the touch. Bud set is triggered by short days and cooler temperatures, so starting a light-dark cycle in September.”

Info on the different types of cactus

From the Web

Blog Follower Responds to Christmas Cactus Post

Yesterday’s showed my efforts to propagate my mother’s Christmas Cactus. Here’s is one reader’s response.

Thanks for sharing your mother’s Christmas Cactus, Joanne. Here’s what she sent.

One Hardy Hibiscus

There’s a new plant, a Hardy Hibiscus, in my front garden and it blossomed. A single bloom. Very exciting to see the vibrant pink unfold.

Then I walked up to the park and saw what’s in the second photo!

Maybe next year.

A single blossom on my new Hardy Hibiscus plant
Too many Hardy Hibiscus blossoms to count

Plant ID?

I think this is a weed but perhaps someone can identify it. I know it grows pretty tall as there were tall dried cane-like reeds from last year.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Through a Neighbor’s Fence

Walking to book club (to discuss The Madonnas of Leningrad), I came across this single blossom which had poked through the slats of my neighbor’s fence. The setting sun illuminated the new green leaves. Unretouched Photo.

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Life Force

  You could write a lot of captions to sum up the effort of this plant. 

Perseverance

You see motivational posters with a single word illustrating a character trait underneath a corresponding photo.   The power of nature to grow in an inhospitable environment is always amazing to me.

per·se·ver·ance
ˌpərsəˈvirəns/
noun
 steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.
  1. power of naturePittsburgh Greenway Parking Lot