12.20.2021

Blooming Cactus

Anyone remember my big ol' Christmas Cactus? My hands down favorite house plant, with a loong family history. Shirley??

I searched for the last post I wrote about it ~ wow ~ that was ten years ago...where does the time go? 
I've been growing it for 42 years, but the original plant is older than that. My cactus still lives in the same basket. It has grown fuller and a little wider. Currently about 48-50" all the way around, without extending any branches.

After our last move, it continued blooming sparingly around Christmas time. It has been shifted to different spots in our house, in an effort to find the best location. This year, for whatever reason my cactus is completely covered in buds and has been blooming for weeks!! 

You can read about my plants interesting past here. It includes getting split, gifted, re-split and regifted, burned alive, thrown outside in the yard and spent many days in a closet. It is a survivor.


My plant full of blooms, memories & love


latest off-spring will be heading to my childhood friend
(4" pot)


old-fashion bloom



6 comments:

Linda said...

Oh my goodness! That's amazing! It's so beautiful, and so special. What a gift during this season.

Val Ewing said...

I tried with one of those plants and failed miserably.
What a beautiful plant!

My Stepdaughter has her grandmother's plant passed down from another relative?

It is enormous and was very much like yours the last time I saw it.

:)

Grey Horse Matters said...

Your plant is beautiful!
I’ve never had luck with those plants but I really like them. Yours is nothing short of amazing.

Shirley said...

Yes! What a great story with that plant.
The one we tried to save from Ted's friend, unfortunately didn't make it- I think about 2 years ago it finally gave up and withered away.
The one I have now has decided not to bloom; I think it's mad at me. I moved it out of the south window this summer as it was so hot there with the weather we had, and I put it in a north facing window. I just moved it back to the south window when I put the Christmas tree up, as I needed the room. I'm sure it is happy to be back in its spot!

Far Side of Fifty said...

Beautiful!!

aurora said...

I keep two of these plants. We also have Brads grandmothers cactus, same old fashion type. His sister inherited her plant, and eventually split and shared with the other siblings. I distinctly remember Farm Grandma's large plant in her house, it is also an oldie.

I've always grown my cactus' in bright light, out of direct sunlight. Many people overwater cactus.

I think the Thanksgiving & Easter versions are harder to grow. I've killed a few of those. Too bad, the blooms come in many colors.

Thanks for sharing my blooming beauty with me :)