Bloom Day – December 2010

It isn’t quite Christmas so it is no surprise that the Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera bridgesii) is mostly fat pink buds. As usual my angelwing begonia has a very few pink blossoms. Along with my dependable and ever blooming abutilon these plants are now in our bedroom in the beneath the west window, but very near the south window. This room is very bright during the day, and very cool at night. We had to move plants from the guest room because we have been trying to fix a leak in the dormer roof for months.  We removed the moldy plasterboard and the wet insulation giving us a view of wooden slats and the metal roof that is sometimes icy these days, even on our side of the roof.  The roof only leaks when it rains hard and the wind comes from a certain direction so we cannot finish the interior until we are absolutley  certain we have made a good repair and we are not. Absolutely certain. So the room is really too cold for plants and we keep that door closed.

My Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumbergera truncata)  is a very Christmasy color and it is still giving us quite a show.  You can see the little ‘barbs’ on the foliage that give this cactus its common name, Crab cactus.

As I said the abutilon, or parlor maple, is always blooming. It is a dependable plant as the holiday cactuses. Cacti?

Even though I do not have many flowers blooming in my house right now, it is the season for friendships and good will to bloom throughout the family and the community with Tuba Christmases, Moonlight Magics, Nutcrackers and carolling. And latkes. I never like to forget the latkes.   The seeds for some new friendships were sown this summer when I met 70 other garden bloggers in Buffalo, including the wise and funny Carol of May Dreams Gardens who hosts this Bloom Day. Please visit and see what else is in bloom around the country.

And for the friends of this blog you have a chance to win a great book about perennial blooms if you click here and leave a comment.

This Post Has 13 Comments

  1. Rose

    Your cacti blooms are lovely, Pat. I’m still waiting for any sign of buds on my little bargain cactus I purchased last year–it might turn out to be an Easter cactus:) Happy Bloom Day!

  2. Pat

    Rose – once it gets going there will be no stopping it. Sometimes bargains are not properly labelled – but a surprise plant is fun.

  3. Donna

    Pretty cactus blooms, mine bloomed a month ago, all seven of them. They should be called Thanksgiving cactus up here in the Falls.

  4. Gail

    Rose, I wish I could have indoor blooms, but, rules the roost and eats plants~ But, how nice it would be to have Christmas Cactus and Flowering maple blooms right now~ Have a sweet bloom day~ gail

  5. Pat

    Donna – Whenever they bloom, I am grateful
    Gail – It is nice to have a few blooms, but there are other things in life. I know.

  6. Ivynettle

    Oh, what a wonderful big Schlumbergera bridgesii – mine’s a little baby still, with only one bud, and that’s not nearly as big as those on yours.
    You seem to have nearly the same S. truncata and Abutilon as me, though (neither of mine are blooming at the moment.)

  7. Kathleen Scott

    Nice to meet you via Bloom Day. And ohmyword that’s a CHAMPION Christmas Cactus. How old is it? Any secrets to share to promote profusion?

  8. Leslie

    Your Holiday cacti are so lush! I need to try harder apparently.

  9. linda

    Hi Pat, Your cactus is beautiful! Ours bloomed at Thanksgiving last year, but so far this year there are no buds.

    Love the abutilon too.

    Happy Bloom Day!

  10. Pat

    Ivynettle – It sounds like we would be very comfortable in each other’s garden.
    Kathleen – I don’t know how old my cactus is, maybe ten years? Benign neglect is my technique for keeping the cactus going. I think my cool house might serve as a benefit.
    Leslie – no trying in involved.
    Linda – So many mysteries about when plants will bloom. Or not.

  11. Sweetbay

    Your Christmas cactus is ahead of mine. I have a red Thanksgiving cactus too. The pink ones must be easier to propagate (or something) because the bright pink ones seem to be a lot more common. Beautiful but not as Christmasy as red!

  12. Corner Garden Sue

    Your holiday cacti are pretty. My begonias don’t bloom much in the winter most of the time. I’ve never grown abutilon before.

  13. Pat

    Sweetbay – I had never thought about the differing vitality of pink and red cacti – very interesting.
    Sue – I will take heart from the fact that your begonias are lazy in the winter, and that is not just me.

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