look what finly bloomed

a old lady gave me this christmas catcus 10 years ago.shes gone no god love her .
It had one flower on it then and now it has only one again.It kind of gave me the creeps so i took a pic of it and cut the flower off ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh

That's beautiful! I have one that was my mother's. It flowers white with splashes of very pale pink. I've never actually seen a darker pink one in bloom before. Thanks for showing us.

--Ginny

Ginny
I have the white one as will i love it.my mother has a red and yellow one,i think the flowers are singles though when it flowers again i will get a pic of it.
It to bad theres no way to send you a piece of this one

Well it's very nice of you to even think of sending me a piece - even if it's not possible :-) I would love to see a picture of the red and yellow one when it blooms again.

--Ginny

Well, now you probably know it's just that kind old lady droppin' in to say "hi, digging dirt, thanks, you done me proud!" What a pretty flower!

Sandy

will what a nice though sandy,that never came to me when it bloomed,kool

Congrats on getting it to flower digging! I'm hopless with those plants.
I gave mine to a friend who has a really old one she got from her MIL, it's huge. And it does really well for her.

Congratulations, digging. But if that's the first flower in all these years, you need to think about where you have the plant.They like conditions that are cool and dark for fairly long hours. I have mine out in my screened porch (north side of house) all summer and when I bring them in in September, they are always COVERED in big buds. Most of the rest of the year, they reside close to an east window, and they usually bloom again in early spring. I don't do anything special to them - mostly ignore them and certainly don't over water. Ginny, I probably could send you a piece of one of mine. I have three. A real old fashioned one smuggled across the US border in 1970 from a Boston relative. It always blooms but is more sensitive to being turned and will definitely twist the buds off. The other two are a light pink and an orangey red. I'd post a picture but I can't find the recent ones and the older ones are too large. My photo optimizing stuff is on the older computer and I left my memory stick at work... Ann

Ann i have done every trick in the book with mine and it just wont bloom.
and this plant is huge as will.

I don't know about anyone else's, but mine seems to like to be stressed a little bit. The more I fuss over it the less likely it is to bloom. It sits either in a large, cool North window shaded most of the year by three huge maple trees, or on a stand against the outside living room wall with only a low level of flourescent light from a floor lamp sitting next to it. It gets watered when the soil is getting pretty dry, and then I give it lots. It doesn't like to have too much soil around it either. Whenever I pot it up to the next size pot it refuses to bloom until after it has branched out a little more again - sometimes for months. This plant flowers for me on average about 5 or 6 times a year, with the best flush of bloom in late fall/early winter and again in early to mid spring.

Ann, I would love to get a piece of your orangey-red one once it's safe to send in the mail. I'll get back to you closer to spring to talk about what I might have by then for trade. Thank you so much for the offer.

--Ginny

yes ann.keep me in mind for a peice as will.

Are you Nfld? I was taking the CA as California but wondering at the name of the place.

Ann

Congratulations Robert! :) You're right the plants sure aren't anything to write home about.........kinda creepy ;)....but oh my the blooms are spectacular! Ü

Yes Ann im in NFLD.
I agree lilypon

I finally found my pictures from this year. This is the orange red. As you can see there is lots to share. Good that I have the antique high chair - it won't fit anywhere else. LOL

And this is the light pink. I could share it as well. I don't have a recent picture of the old-fashioned one, but its blooms this year were unremarkable. I DID notice, that is has one large bud now when I moved it from one shelf to another. Might twist off as a result of moving it though.

This message was edited Jan 12, 2007 6:48 PM

The orange-red is absolutely gorgeous! I can hardly wait to get a piece of it now :-)

Gota tell you. I was in a Rona tonight, soaking up some greenhouse plant vibes. They had some "Zygo Cactus" (Holiday Cactus) in hanging baskets for 7.50. Half price. Mostly gold, a few salmon and red and a couple of whites. i came very close to buying a couple, but couldn't think where I'd put them when I got home. At that price it doesn't pay to start from cuttings. These pots were really full. They had a bunch of the small pots too, selling for cheap cheap, but they weren't labeled so could have been any colour. No, I didn't take any plants home. I was just too cold out.

Wow on that price at Rona. I was also at Rona, but managed to stay clear of the greenhouse. Maybe that was a mistake. LOL

Ann

Dont forget little old me when you give away cuttings,that red and orange is soooooo awsum love it .the pale pink is a keeper as will.
Oh befor i forget the cactus that i have i noticed yesterday has 5 more flower buds on it ,mmmmmm could be help for it yet.i wont cut these flowers off
Robert

Let's keep our fingers crossed for those blooms. Don't turn the plant in relation to the light in case they decide to twist off.

You all need to remind me once the weather gets warmer and I'll send the cuttings.

Ann

My mom had one for about 20 years. I don't remember NOT having it growing up:LOL: The blooms were sort of pinkish red and double. I can still remember moving from Connecticut to New Mexico with the thing in the van, my mom eyeballing it through the rearview mirror. Basically we treated it like we were moving explosives:LOL: It was gorgeous and bloomed like crazy twice a year. We were not allowed to move it or water it once my mom found its new spot. I inherited the plant after my mom died and oh, the guilt when it started to go all woody and died off. Still 20+ years is a good run for a plant right? =)

yes ann i will rember to let you know ,i found two more buds today.im so excited about it wont as much as blow air on it lol.
dmac my grandmother gave me most of her plants befor she passedon.and shortly after she did the plants started to decline and i did everthing under the sun to save them but thay died as will,
funny isnt it.
She loved these plants,kind of creeps me out,other people have told me much the same thing has happened to them.

Hello everyone! I love those cacti! Digging, shame on you for cutting off that first bloom! It must finally be adjusting to its new surroundings. I am pleased for you. You have done well, since it is not going downhill, but adjusting. They seem to be one of those plants that take their sweet time to decide on a course of action, so the ten years may have just been its "adjustment" period. Now, it seems to be satisfied with its new home, and its new caregiver. They are magnificent in bloom. Sort of a shocking contradiction to normal, as when a homely bromeliad suddenly shows you what it can do with a bloom! I about fell over the first time I saw my bromeliad bloom years ago. BAM
P.S. My columbine seedlings looked great as they went into winter, so eagerly awaiting spring to assure myself that they survived. Thank you, digging!!!

thats right Bam i did send you seed im glad thay done will,I finely got the one i was looking for chocolate shoulders can wate to start some.Yes i was bad for cutting that flower off it has more now,and my white one is budded to now.

They are blooming again. Here's a pic taken a couple of days ago. And I found the thread so I can send the promised cuttings in a few weeks.

Ann

And this is the other - also blooming. (As is my third, very old plant though it doesn't bloom as profusely and I don't dare to turn it because the buds will fall off).

Absolutely gorgeous Ann! Mine is blooming right now too. Its flowers are exactly the same colour as your second picture. I keep meaning to take a picture, but somehow there's always something else I have to do right away :-(

--Ginny

wow thay are loaded with blooms.cant wate to get a cutting.

Mine is blooming again too; in fact, it hasn't really stopped since November. It was looking a little bit tired in January, but all of a sudden it perked up and has lots of blooms again. My plant must be 12 - 15 years old.