Houseplants for Christmas

  • Post published:12/14/2013
  • Post comments:1 Comment

  Plants, one way or another, play a big part in our Christmas festivities and gift giving. I can’t think of any other holiday when plants are so important. We decorate our houses with evergreen wreaths, and deck our halls with holly. Or at least with laurel ropes, evergreen boughs and swags, and forced bulbs on the festive table. We also give plants as gifts, and may also receive a potted plant. The question is how can we…

Foliage Follow Up – January 2012

  • Post published:01/16/2012
  • Post comments:2 Comments

I rarely participate in Foliage Follow-up, but Pam Penick at Digging has prompted me to take a good look at the foliage around me at this time of the year. I have owned this orchid cactus (Epiphyllum) for a number of years. I pay almost no attention to it which is shameful, because it would bloom regularly and magnificently if I did. You can see I don't even give it the pedestal it deserves. For the past year…

Bloom Day, January 2012

  • Post published:01/15/2012
  • Post comments:4 Comments

This Bloom Day is the coldest day of the winter so far. -4 degrees at 7 am. Still I have a few blooms to enjoy. This Christmas cactus is becoming quite magnificent and sits in the corner of our bedroom where it is one of  the first things I see when I wake up. We are still a little disorganized from the nearly completed work on our kitchen so this Christmas cactus is sitting it out in the…

Blogoversary Giveaway

On December 6, the Feast of St. Nicholas, I will celebrate my Fourth Blogaverary! It wasn't an ideal time to start a garden blog, but I had just learned about blogs and 'met' Kathy at Cold Climate Gardening, Carol at May Dreams Gardens and all the Ranters at Garden Rant. I was lucky to meet such stars early on because they have taught me so much and continue to inspiremme.  I even got to meet them all at…

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…

Thanksgiving Continues

  • Post published:12/03/2009
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My Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumbergera truncata) had just barely started to open on Thanksgiving day, but it is in full bloom right now. It will have passed its moment of glory by Bloom Day, so I continue to give thanks in the here and now. I've had people tell me their Thanksgiving cactus or Christmas cactus never bloom at the proper season, but that is usually because they have misidentified their plant. The Thanksgiving cactus 'leaf segments' have little points…

Will She or Won’t She?

  • Post published:11/25/2009
  • Post comments:6 Comments

My Thanksgiving cactus has been budded for weeks and I thought she would be blooming right on time. But right on time is tomorrow!  I'm inviting her into the warm room of the house today.  I should have thought of that earlier. There is no question that this calendar will prompt me to get everything done on time. This beautiful calendar prepared by the University of Massachusetts Extension Service has 12 gorgeous photos of plants, exotic, common and…

Holiday Cactus

  • Post published:12/22/2008
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                  Flowers are a part  of the festive holiday decorations.  Some are even named for the holidays. Thanksgiving and Christmas cactus bloom in shades of white, pink and red all through the holidays. They are hardy plants needing very little care, but it is important to remember that even though we call them cactus, they are not desert plants. Thanksgiving and Christmas cactus are actually a part of the Schlumbergera family, natives of moist tropical…