Today for $25 I was able to buy a christmas cactus which was claimed to be 100 years old. Grandma orginally had it and cared for it, and when she passed Grandpa took care of it until recently.
Looking into the "Christmas Cacti" book by McMillian and Horobin, it appears to be a very early hybrid, if not a species plant. I am very curious about when it flowers, and it is showing buds already.
Wow! Thanks a great buy! just think there weren't any cars around when it was bought. That's cool!
Roxanne
Well thanks for the compliment, it is a very sickly looking plant, but I am very happy that I could be its owner. It has very different looking pads, as there are no teeth on them, which places toward xbucklyii or possibly one of the actual species. I can hardly wait.
Mind you guys this is a prize to me, as I want to see the real species or the earliest crosses, as I love plants, and not excatly a fan of hybridizing.
cong!!! It does look like a very old plant. I think the old ones are more open that they newer ones. I remember my DGM's ones looked like that one.
Sandy
Sorta similiar to this and I can't
remember where I got it or how long.
Ride that looks like a Easter Cactus. Is it??
It could be ,but the bracts were sort of narrow> Want me to get closer picture?
That plant is clearly an "Easter Cactus" Rhipsalidopsis. Not a Shlumbergera
I'm always bumbling into the wrong thread.
Can I still stay and visit??
Nah, we are cool with Schlums, Rhips, and Epis here.
You may like this one.
It is loaded with blooms and buds.
Lovely. Ridesredmule we love all the "tropic cactus"
Nice plant, but really quite new Schlumbergera hybrid it seems.
Yes it is, I just got it this fall. But it is so pretty. Still loaded with blooms. Do you pick the dry blooms off when they start drying up? It starts out orange and ends up white.
Rides, that looks like a very nice one. Could we maybe trade cuttings in the spring? You would not want my schlums, but perhaps a rhipsalis?
Heck!!! Yes. JUST remind me, please. I have some more that have buds on them , when they bloom I will show
the pic to you all. I know you will enjoy it.
Looks like you have 3 different Christmas Cactus in there.
Mine are blooming. Need to get back out there and try to label the colors again.
Sandy
It could be, it is a beautiful plant. Have two more in kitchen that is gettng ready to bloom,They are older than this one. Don't give them any special treatment except have been spraying them lately with a Recipe for Brugs.
Mine where abused all summer. the oak tree that was shading them died and they get way to much sun and do to my poor health they did not get watered or feed enough. But as soon as I put them into the shade house the developed bugs and are blooming away.
analog, that is an impressive plant. love hearing stories about plants being passed down in the family. My Thanksgiving cactus are full of buds and they are getting big so I'm hoping some will pop open anyday now. They are in a protected sunroom but it is cold in there. Not freezing so there won't be any damage to the leaves. I will take pictures tomorrow for you to see.
Here is a "100 Year Old Christmas Cactus" on Ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/100-year-old-Christmas-Cactus_W0QQitemZ170413707026QQcategoryZ42211QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340.m8QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DMW%26its%3DC%26itu%3DUCC%26otn%3D5%26ps%3D63
That looks similar to that one I had up above.
I don't know how old it is but it is still hanging in there growing.
Thanks for letting us see it.
My new found plant is blooming and after reading several books about it, it appears to be S. russelania, which I suspect is pretty rare these days.
That is a pretty pink too. Congratulations. On your treasure.
wow, how cool is that. If there is a plant file, link us up so we can read about it.
Love it.
Sandy
Yes there is a PF page for it, with a real sad looking plant on it. I posted my picks and they are getting checked out before being posted.
That is awesome. I love the old varieties.
That is so cool.
I got this one at a yard sale for 50 cents. This is what it looked like in the fall.
My dog broke it in half and it is doing good and have started a new one out of the accident.
They are so nice to have flowers at Turkey Day.
Amos
Beautiful! What a nice plant.
Yes, it is beautiful.
Need to put a tag on it with date you got it.
One of these you'll be syaing "now when did I get that?"
i try too, but I forget to..
My tags keep disappearing. I think the squirrels are collecting them!!!! LOL
Sandy
You know they built their nest with some strannge things. My donkeys destroyed one of my flags and it ended up in the squirrells nest the next spring. So they could be using them to line their nest. Goofy critters!!!!
I KNOW!!!!! Thought I think mine are building ladders with them so they can reach the bird feeders. LOL
Sandy
Let me tell you what they do. I have a big oak tree. They sit up there in their little squirrell castles and watch me put feed in the bird feeders. Give me time to bring my little fat rump back in the house. then they tell each other "she gone!!!!" Thereby they start runningdown the tree ot jumping from a limb right about the well house and raid those birdfeeders in no time at all. The rascals
love that birdseed.
Tree rats. We have tons of them and they chew on all my plastic containers and Xmas tree lights. Hoping they would get electrocuted when they chewed on the lights but it didn't happen.
I trained my dog to chase them when I yell "squirrel" but now when I say "squirrel" all the squirrel run for the trees. LOL
There is no seeds in the shade house but they still went in there. I am hoping that now we have closed in 3 sides with plastic and the 4 one will be in closed with shade cloth they will stay out.
Sandy
We have bluebird houses built. Some of the holes are chewed out by the squirrell and I guess they stay in their someties in the winter. The little chickadees use them in the spring.
wren, that's funny. I will have to teach my dog that.
I have three dogs and when I want them to go out I yell "squirrels" It works and wren is right, the squirrels know too. I got some of the fattest squirrels on our road.
