'Mother', the Christmas cacti is in full bloom and looking amazing.
She's a very old lady, originally owned by Alan's great-great-great Scottish Grannie, but every now and then she really surprises us, and this 'almost on time' blooming has done just that. She is obviously loving being sat in Alan's hallway window and getting so much light on her old leaves.
She spent many days over the course of the Summer sat outside on the patio drinking up the sun's rays, and then enjoying cooling showers from the hosepipe before returning to her happy place. Maybe that has helped rejuvenate her even more than usual.
Happiness can be as simple as enjoying the pretty flowers on a treasured plant.
Sue xx
Goodness, how have you kept it alive for so long? Do you feed it or repot it? How? When? It's a beautiful colour.
ReplyDeleteMy question too! How old roughly does that make her? Amazing
DeleteSorry, it’s Sarah here but keeps coming us as anon and that I’m from Croydon! I’m miles away.
DeleteWe once sat and worked out her approximate age, she's somewhere around the 100 year mark. It feels like a huge responsibility keeping her going. A lot of us have cuttings that are doing well, some as old as 10 years now.
DeleteShe gets minimal watering in Winter. A weekly feed and water when she budding and flowering. In the 15 years that we've looked after her I have repotted her once.
Charlie, our Chug gave her a REALLY good pruning one year by chewing off the ends of all the leaves. We panicked, but it actually seemed to invigorate her even more. ❤️
Your Christmas cactus is gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteShe's lovely when she blooms isn't she. ❤️
DeleteMy cactus is blooming too - I was told it was a Thanksgiving cactus!
ReplyDeleteThey are related as far as I know, there are also Easter cacti. ❤️
DeleteHi 👋, I’ve just googled ‘ How to look after your Christmas Cactus’ as Steve Reed on Shadows and light is also showing photos of his ‘Thanksgiving Cactus’.
DeleteThe difference between these two and the Easter Cactus is the shape of the leaves.
Karen
Yes, there are slight variations. The strange thing is that the plants that are cuttings off Mother sometimes end up with slightly different shaped leaves to her. She is a mystery!! 😄
DeleteIs it too late for me to buy one for this year.? The bungalow is filling up with houseplants, and I'm running out of suitable spaces for them...
ReplyDeleteI've rarely noticed them in garden centres etc. But then I've never had to buy one, so perhaps they are there and I've just ignored them. 😀
DeleteThat's a grand old lady! I have three of these in different shades and all are blooming beautifully but they are mere babies compared to yours. I did have an ancient African violet that belonged to my Grandad and kept it for many years but it gave up the ghost a few years ago sadly. Regards Sue H
ReplyDeleteSome plants are just amazing aren't they. ❤️
DeleteLast week my Christmas Cactus had just one flower; Now it looks very much like yours with beautiful pink flowers all over. I'm the world's worst at looking after plants but this one seems to thrive on neglect, going for weeks without being watered and never been fed or repotted since I bought it 2 years ago. Should I give it more TLC - or would the shock kill it?
ReplyDeleteI would keep doing what you've been doing, it's obviously working. Maybe just a feed of Baby Bio while it's flowering though to give it a boost.
DeleteMother is absolutely beautiful - what a picture. xx
ReplyDeleteShe's even gone up a notch in the last two days since I took the photo. She's obviously having a very good year. ❤️
DeleteShe is extraordinary and very lovely. What a wonderful thing to have and treasure.
ReplyDeleteShe's very old and quite sad looking when she's not in flower though. Then her trunk does show her age. But we appreciate her efforts at flowering nearly every year. ❤️
DeleteWhat an amazing plant, 100 - wow, so beautiful
ReplyDeleteAlison in Devon x
She a wonderful old lady, as were all the women in the line that she has been passed down in. Alan's sisters didn't want her, although one now has a cutting from her that's few years old. So Alan is the first male in the family to be her custodian. ❤️
Delete"Mother" is very beautiful! This reminds me of two things. Firstly my Dad had collapsed and we called the ambulance. They were struggling to get him round a turn in the staircase and all he was bothered about was that they looked at his magnificent Christmas cactus before they took him to hospital. The second was a Christmas cactus as big as yours that my husbands great aunt gave us. We had a water tank in the loft which burst and brought the whole ceiling crashing down. There was water everywhere. We had to throw carpets and furniture outside, including the plant. There was a bad frost and the poor plant succumbed. We felt guilty for a very long time. X
ReplyDeleteMy Mum is exactly the same with medical professionals, always chatting and wanting to show them things. 😄
DeleteI dread something awful happening to her, Alan would be mortified!!
" Mother" is such a beauty. I love the colour of her flowers.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
They are the purest pink that they have ever been this year. 🩷Strangely one of the cuttings from her had red flowers. I don't know how that works! 🤔
DeleteI love Mother! My Grandma always had one of those, I wonder what happened to it? xxx
ReplyDeleteHopefully living it's best life with one of your Grandma's friends children. ❤️
DeleteThe plant is gorgeous. You must be doing everything just right.
ReplyDeleteAngie
Thank goodness we are, the responsibility is a big one. 😄
DeleteSuch a magnificent plant, so joyful.
ReplyDeleteShe makes us both smile every time we pass by her. xx
Delete