The Christmas Cactus is blooming right on schedule

in #gardening7 years ago


Amazing how the plant knows it is time to do it's annual flowering at Christmas.


Every year it just surprises me with so many beautiful bright red flowers just in time for the holidays. I just love how pretty it looks with my red and white theme this year.

It is funny how I forget from year to year that it blooms in December. I guess that is what makes it a very special plant for me, it surprises me every year. I know that may sound silly but it's just not something I tend to think about. ;-)


"Christmas Cactus"


I have had this cactus plant for probably close to 14 years now. Someone gave me a little piece of their plant to root and this is the size of it now. It is definitely a slow grower, but so worth the wait.




"Bud just before it opens"


It is almost ready to start opening up, maybe one more day before it is fully open.



"Buds beginning to unfurl"





"Bud fully open"


This blossom reminds me of a bird in flight. So pretty!


"Blossom after blossom after blossom"


I love that the plant will continue to bloom all through the month of December. The buds begin to form on the tips at different times which allows for the month long presentation.


Thank you for stopping by my post, I hope you enjoyed seeing the Christmas Cactus in bloom.

Until next time, this is Sunscape
Sun. Scape. Ing your day

Previous Posts @sunscape
My Website
My Etsy Store
My Tweets on Twitter

Sort:  

Upvoted by @gardening-trail

Thank you for following and upvoting @gardening-trail
Read our guidelines here

Thank you very much @gardening-trail I accept your invitation to join the community. I have been an avid gardener for over 50 years, grow organically, owned my own nursery business and sold at the local public market for 15 years. I now have enormous gardens with flowering trees, shrubs and flowers. I start all my own vegetables and annuals every year in my greenhouse. All photos that I put here on Steemit are "always" my own. I am an avid photographer as well. I look forward to everyone's posts. Garden on!!

We all are fortunate to have you in our gardening community! We all will benefit from you being here and posting. Happy gardening!

Thank you @gardening-trail I am so happy to get to know you all.

I hope you enjoy the photos of the Christmas Cactus, it is one of my favorite plants. Enjoy!

I posted something similar not long ago. I was informed in the comments to my post that this is in fact a Thanksgiving Cactus instead of a Christmas Cactus, which is what I called mine as well. Beautiful plant, ours is in full bloom now too!

Wow, really? I have never heard of it called that, every one always comments that it is a Christmas Cactus. Too funny! Either way, I love it when it blooms in December. Thanks for letting me know. ;-)

I'm with ya there...always called it a Christmas Cactus myself...and probably always will. :)

Haha -- That was me. I left a separate reply that explains the difference. I'm not trying to be a grinch!

It's all good, I was just trying to share the knowledge...altho I probably will continue calling it by the wrong name...LOL

I know it as a Christmas cactus, but maybe that's because we don't traditionally have Thanksgiving in the UK!

@sunscape and @justagenstum - the Schlumbergera is both called that and also Crab Cactus and Holiday cactus. Mine didn't bloom this year but it has double its size.

Both of them are Schlumbergera, but they are different species. They have different flowers, stems, and bloom times. The plants in all three of our posts are the Crab Cactus, for sure, S. truncata. I'm on a mission here now, lol. To stand up for the real Christmas cactus - that starts blooming at Christmas, not the month before. A fool's errand, I know. Oh well.... ; )

We all stand corrected.....lol.....wow, who knew all this time, thank goodness you were on a mission. Now, I will officially call my plant a Thanksgiving cactus that I can still enjoy until Christmas. I just saw your links in the other comment below and I will check them out. Thanks for letting us all know who our cactus really are!

I feel so bad about even bringing it up, lol. The last thing anyone needs is to have somebody chasing them saying, "Call your cactus by its right name!". Enjoy your blooming cactus every moment! If you do see any for sale, though, that haven't started blooming yet and have the rounded edges on their leaves. But maybe now you will be on the lookout for the traditional Christmas cactus, too. : )

@haphazard-hstead am glad you did - I wasn't daring enough to call it out Schlumbergera truncata to be exact -

I was hoping you would - it's the crab cactus that she has right? Cause this one has pointy edges like that of the crab's shears and the Christmas Cactus ( Schlumbergera buckleyii )has a round more of a round edge.

I played it safe and just gave Schlumbergera - I have the crab one - with red flowers. My Christmas cactus died two years ago - too much watering :D

Yep, it's those pointy edges that are the give-away for the Crab cactus. I hope you can find another of the real Christmas cactus. I think they are getting harder to find because the commercial growers can sell more plants when the are in bloom - which means the S. truncata before the Christmas season.

Thank you so much for letting us all know. I have never really known what it was called. Glad to finally know. I like the Crab Cactus as I am a Cancer sign which is a crab...see I totally love this plant.

Wow, it is not often that I see a cactus bloom.

It is so cool watching them all month long.

I've got one of these too. It is remarkable how it blooms right on schedule. You know the holidays are getting close when it starts to flower. Great post and great pictures.

I know right! So amazing the cactus is always right on time! love it.

Wow, It looks beautiful. I don`t think we have those one in Panama ;)

The one I have always starts to bloom around Thanksgiving and lasts until Christmas. Check out the post from @haphazard-hstead Thanksgiving Cactus Houseplant
post that describes the difference between Christmas and Thanksgiving Cactus. Nice Pictures @sunscape! Happy Holidays🎄

This post has been ranked within the top 80 most undervalued posts in the second half of Dec 05. We estimate that this post is undervalued by $7.08 as compared to a scenario in which every voter had an equal say.

See the full rankings and details in The Daily Tribune: Dec 05 - Part II. You can also read about some of our methodology, data analysis and technical details in our initial post.

If you are the author and would prefer not to receive these comments, simply reply "Stop" to this comment.

I feel like the kid that blurts out "There is no Santa Claus" to all the other children.

Anyone can call their cactus anything they want, of course. There is a Schlumbergera cactus that starts blooming at Christmas time, not the month leading up to Christmas. We are being short-changed by the commercial marketers to find only the species that blooms in the month leading up to Christmas, when it's easier to sell plants with flowers on them. The traditional, real Christmas cactus is becoming hard to find and nobody even appreciates that. Someone who has the traditional Christmas cactus has something special. That cactus is Schlumbergera bridgesii, or S. russelliana, or Schlumbergera x buckleyi - the botanical names have changed over the years.

But the plants in both these posts - and my own post - they are all S. truncata. They are pretty. They come in a lot of different colors. And they bloom in the month leading up to Christmas.

Here are a few references that talk about the differences:
Horticulture Magazine
Cooperative Extension at Clemson University
The Gardener, Cook Blog.

If it sounds like I'm on some sort of high horse, check out that last blog. That guy is really upset about it, lol.

Awesome, thank you again!!!!

Thanks for being understanding about my mission. ; ) Have a Merry Christmas!

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.35
TRX 0.12
JST 0.039
BTC 70310.43
ETH 3568.34
USDT 1.00
SBD 4.73