This is one Mean Old Lady!

This is one Mean Old Lady!
Self-portrait: 'Quilter on Fire'

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Crazy Christmas Cactus

Though I'm generally good at growing things, there is a rocky history with this plant.  When I adopted it--from our mother's room on the nursing pavilion in her final days--it had bright fuchsia-pink blossoms.  After relocation, it had no blooms for years.  Then, when buds finally appeared, most of them fell off.  The few surviving buds opened into blooms of palest pink.  I assumed this had to do with low light; (no windows in this house have direct sun.)

A friend with a prolific Christmas cactus gave me some tips, and this year (knock wood) most of the buds are so far being retained and are opening...into pale pink blooms.  However, there was one bud--darker than the others, almost a coral tint to it.... 



Explanations I have none.  
Every other bloom is the usual pale, pale pink.
The stamens alone hint at the original bright color of the blossoms.












It really is a very showy, surprising sight!









It is actually MORE orange than it appears in these pix.


Christmas surprise!

2 comments:

  1. I got a Christmas cactus cutting from a friend -- just five lobes -- and rooted it in to a small pot. It was inert for a couple of years. Just the same five lobes sitting there. Then I fertilized it, and it was off to the races. It's huge now.

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  2. Congrats on the Xmas cactus! Mine looks (looked) just like yours. It was blooming profusely just before I left for the UK, but most of the blooms have fallen now. I also had a few blooms on my upstairs office cactus, but it doesn't get much light. So only the side near the window had any blooms.

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