Merry Christmas Catus

Years ago, my mother brought a Christmas cactus as a hostess gift. I placed it in my east facing kitchen window and that was it.  It's never been re-potted from its original little 4" pot.  It's never been fertilized.  Irrigation is occasional whenever I think of it.  It usually blooms after Christmas...probably in protest over poor conditions. 

A local radio gardening show suggested fertilizing these plants at Halloween to insure blooms at Christmas.  I think I may treat this poor thing to some new soil and better care in 2013.  If it does this well now, imagine how well it will do with just a new pot, fresh soil, and a little Trick or Treat fertilizer.

Here are some simple care instructions in case you have a Christmas cactus fill your stocking this year.

PS  it's finally raining today after morning fog.  Love it.

In The Pink & A Winner!

There’s plenty of pink in the garden this spring.  I expect the pink Candytuft to explode later; but in the meantime…

Azalea – George L. Taber

 

Peach – O’Henry

 

Camellia – Mrs. Tingley

 

Christmas Cactus – Nutty Screwy

This weekend

• The espalier lines were tightened after all the tie downs were removed.  Not many blossoms were sacrificed. 
• Tomatoes from last summer were brought out of the freezer in order to make some garlic heavy spaghetti sauce.  Italian parsley and Thyme from the garden added to the seasoning.
• Scare tape was hung above the hanging plants to encourage the twitterpated mourning doves to build their nests elsewhere.
• The garden fence was washed down in anticipation of Farmer MacGregor’s paintbrush.  Rain prevented the application of paint.

 

The winner of the Hometown Seeds Kitchen Herb Value Pack is Donna.  Congratulations Donna.  Please send me an email so I can make arrangements for delivery of the seeds to your garden.

Crop Review 2010 – Christmas Cactus

 

I received some Christmas Cacti as gifts years ago; but the variety I have aren’t aware that they should bloom during Christmas.  I don’t know much about them so I’m sure I’m responsible for the blooms starting after the new year and into the spring.  They’re still worth mentioning as a reference here.

• ease to grow – These plants are moderately easy to grow.  Keep the soil evenly moist making sure not to overwater or you may kill it outright.  I’ve killed a few.  I keep the ones that survived in the kitchen window.  If they fail to grow, they are easy to replace.
• pest & disease resistance – No pests nor diseases have been noticed.
• appearance  - They are a weird looking plant but the flowers can be spectacular.  Hot house plants look way better than my kitchen window sample.
• production – I did read that keeping these plants pot bound is best but I may transplant and prune the ones I have to see if I can plump them up a bit.
• scent - I haven’t noticed any scent with this variety.

Christmas Cactus only receives 3 out of 5 blossoms.  They can be fussy about water, light, and temperature.  They will get scraggly.  A minor issue is lack of blossom scent ( no point off).