Wednesday, December 3, 2008

The Christmas Cactus


This Christmas cactus belonged to my grandmother and was a fixture in her house for as long as I can remember. When she died, my mother took possession of it and eventually handed it on to me. It has been split about four times and many starts have come off it over the years. Two years ago it was looking rather sickly and so my father and I replanted it, a rather large undertaking. It is looking better this year than it has for many years. Regardless of how it has looked, it has bloomed faithfully and abundantly every year that I have had it. It is on a sun porch facing south. I turn it every month or so. I love plants, but I particularly love this one for the connection it has to my grandmother.

3 comments:

Orbie/\;;/\ said...

it is beautiful... all my plants are silk... I finally have come to terms with my deadly nature toward green things.... some day though I would like to have african violets again... I have been an old lady my whole life

Jilly said...

my christmas cactus blooms on and off again all year, same as my african violets. something is very wrong with my thumb.

orb, african violets are so easy. you just water it once every so often and cut off anything that looks almost dead. my guy's momma has several hundred african violets in her kitchen and one day just showed up at my place with some.
she told me that they were cuttings she'd made me off a plat that came from her mother who got it from her mother and on back a few generations, so i have to keep the thing alive.

jilly

Ded said...

I have a 30 year old elephant leaf begonia given to me by a long dead friend; a ficus tree, eight feet wide and tall with a five inch trunk diameter, given to me long ago by more recently dead friend. I have clones of african violets and green/yellow philodendrons from old family members now not among the living.

If any of you have any thoughts of sending me plants, don't.