Christmas Cactus

[scooping]

After seven years it is finally in flower. Let joy be unconfined.

[Tilly2]

It's just gone Easter. Are you sureit's not an Easter cactus?

[scooping]

Could be.

[boxtops]

Wonderful, scooping - tilly may be right though, the two are almost identical. I have a 50-year-old Christmas cactus which started flowering in January, and is still in bloom, Wonderful ornate flowers! I'll try and post a pic later - each year I am amazed by it.

[Tilly2]

Whatever it is, well done for getting it to flower.

[scooping]

Think cactus flowers are truly wonderful.

[RATTER15]

Sounds like an Easter cactus to me.

[boxtops]

TBH scooping, I don't do anything with my plants, they live in the bathroom and if they look a bit limp outside the flowering season, I chuck a cup of water on the soil. They seem to like being ignored, I last repotted them about 4 years ago They seem to like being dry, but I do water little and often while they are in flower. Good luck with yours!

[boxtops]

This is a pic of mine from a couple of years ago http://s1086.photobucket.com/user/boxtops1/media/S5031620.jpg.html?filters%5Buser%5D=118849918&;filters%5Brecent%5D=1&sort=1&o=0#/user/boxtops1/media/PICT0011-1.jpg.html?filters%5Buser%5D=118849918&filters%5Brecent%5D=1&;sort=1&o=11&_suid=139841638521305212865698849223

[RATTER15]

Boxy, I want that hare!!! Delightful character!!

[scooping]

Thanks Boxy. Awesome.

[boxtops]

Ratter, this is Harriet - part of a range called A Breed Apart. Love her.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=harriet+a+breed+apart&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ei=2yZaU_j7MPSh7Aa6kYCQDA&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&;biw=1024&bih=675#facrc=_&imgrc=dSy8PVWKvDMhqM%253A%3B8GKOHgh50QemAM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.giftsandcollectables.co.uk%252Fmedia%252Fuploads%252Fcat-1303%252Fa-breed-apart-harriet-lg.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.giftsandcollectables.co.uk%252Fshop%252Fgifts-by-type%252Fout-of-stock%252Fa-breed-apart-96-harriet-96-hare-ca05932%3B499%3B499

[albaqwerty]

don't know who I like more, the cactus or the hare!

I inherited my brother's cacti, wonderful things.

[mccfluff]

how would you confine joy?

[mccfluff]

i suppose you could lock her in a room

[scooping]

It's from Byron's 'The Eve of Waterloo'

[albaqwerty]

there ya go, Fluffpot, they locked joy up before the battle :-)

(sorry scooping)

[Buenchico]

Merry Christmas!

I know next to nothing about horticultural matters except when it comes to cacti. (In my teenage years I was almost obsessed with cultivating them and a keen member of the East Anglian Cactus Society - I've probably still got my enamel badge somewhere!). So I can tell you that the biggest mistake people make with cacti (and consequently the biggest cause of non-flowering) is watering them during the winter. Most cacti will flower every year if you stop watering them around October and don't start again until March or April.

[boxtops]

Thanks Chris, that confirms my cycle of neglect is the right thing to do :-)

[Ric.ror]

I believe (and I may be wrong) that Christmas Cacti omit oxygen in the night so are the perfect plant for a bedroom - as I say I may be wrong