On December 14, 2010, my Facebook status read,
Come on, Christmas cactus, bloom! Pretty please?
Several FB friends responded, including:
Katie: Mine is done already. It was a Veteran’s Day cactus this year.
Kathy: Ours is done, too, after a spectacular showing at Thanksgiving!
Me: I was tempted to walk over to my plants and point out their comparable under-performance. Instead, I just moved them to the afternoon sun spot.
Ann: I see the problem. You are too nice to them. Mine bloomed prolifically for years after spending the summer neglected outside every year. Until I finally killed them.
For months, my two Christmas cactus lived on death row. Every two weeks, when I watered the sad little plants, I think “I should just toss ’em.” Then I’d decide to do the deed in two weeks when they’d be dry again.
In August, I moved from Park Ridge to Johnson Creek. A decision needed to be made. Paul did not want to be responsible for the cactus. He was either going to bring them to “Crick” or he was going to commit planticide.
It turns out my apartment has wide window ledges and blinding afternoon sun. I took the back passageway to Menards, bought two new pots and cactus potting soil and told Paul to bring up the cactus.
Within a week the Christmas cactus started looking happy. You could almost see them grow. One cactus began blooming in October and the other in December.
It’s good to be given another chance to bloom.
–Sue Edison-Swift, 12/14/2011
P.S. For a related post, visit http://sue.edison-swift.com/littleeaster-2
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