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Holiday Cactus

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Holiday Catus - schlumberger x buckleyi
Photo Credit: Dr. Gerald Klingaman
Holiday cactus is easy to rebloom if you follow a few simple rules.
Mention “cactus,” and there are usually a few people who get nervous, remembering childhood encounters with the prickly desert dwellers. But some cacti have found another way into our hearts, by growing on the treetops of tropical forests among orchids and bromeliads. These plants, generically called holiday cacti (Schlumbergera x buckleyi), are much better companions than most of their spiny kin you may be more familiar with.

Holiday cacti actually have an identity problem, because gardeners never know what to call them. Most bloom from November through January. We Americans call the early blooming cultivars “Thanksgiving cacti” – a name meaning little to the rest of the world – while those blooming around the yuletide season are “Christmas cacti,” which only fits if you live in the Northern Hemisphere. (And don’t confuse holiday cactus with Easter cactus – that’s another species entirely.)

Whatever it’s called, holiday cactus makes a fine, easy-to-care for houseplant, although admittedly, the flat green, jagged-edged braches are a bit uninteresting much of the year. But gardeners know the joy of anticipation, and once buds begin swelling on this plant in October, all is forgiven.

Holiday cacti are among the easiest flowering houseplants to rebloom, rewarding even minimal effort with a good annual display of blooms that last three to four weeks. They’re available in a variety of colors – mostly centered around shades of pink – but choices range from white to yellow and lavender to red. (Bicolor selections are also available, usually white with pink or red.)

Warnings
  • Don’t be fooled by the common name “holiday cactus.” A lack of sufficient water causes the death of more holiday cactus than any other reason.
Tips
  • Plant holiday cacti in well-drained soils. Good choices are ones that contain some sand, which drain quickly.
  • For bushier plants, pinch or snip off the topmost sections of the plants after bloom.
Definitions
  • Rebloom: Flowering more than once a year.
  • Epiphyte: A plant that grows on another plant (but is not parasitic).
 
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