Milestone

[fenchurch]

I realized today that I've had my Christmas Cactus for a year... and not only is it still alive, it's blooming!!! Yay me!! I kept a *flowering* plant alive and healthy for one full year!!

Apparently, succulents like me. I'd noticed last spring that the Christmas Cactus was still alive and picked up two other types of succulents (I have no clue as to what sort they are), which are also going gangbusters at this point. It's just nice to finally have some sort of plant I can keep that doesn't just eke along, but actually thrives.

BTW, I know I'm way behind on my LJ, life just got really busy right before Thanksgiving and hasn't let up much... I've fallen behind on practically all my online communities, and I'm not sure it's worth the scramble to read the stuff I missed at this point. :-(

Comments

[saifai.livejournal.com]

WooHoo! There may be hope yet be hope for us. ::checks her own Christmas cactus:: Yup, mine's still alive and flowering after a whole year. I'm truly shocked. :)

[onetwomany.livejournal.com]

Wow, I'm woefully ignorant about these things, but - cactuses bloom? Is it a pretty flower or a spikey one?

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

Yep... they generally have really pretty flowers too. The Christmas Cactus is actually a succulent, which is (generally) a plant that has adapted to being in an arid environment by storing lots of water. But I believe most types of cactus bloom in one way or another.

I managed to track down a pic of a Christmas Cactus (http://adamspiers.org/photos/family/cactus/1.jpg.medium.html) (I probably should just take a photo of mine at some point), to give you an idea... the one in that picture is way bigger than mine, but I think it's a pretty good example.

[onetwomany.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow - it's so pretty! I think of cactuses (cacti?) as tall, skinny things with needles that hurt to the touch. That looks like an ordinary plant! Very cool!

[wildrider.livejournal.com]

Speaking as a long-time desert dweller, even the "tall spiny" cactuses have beautiful flowers -- in fact, one of them is the Arizona State flower! http://phoenix.about.com/library/blsaguaroflower.htm

The cactus in our yard (a night-blooming cereus) has absolutely gorgeous blooms -- I wish I had some scans available, because I've taken some lovely pictures of them. :)

Bittn waves Hello {{ }}

[bittnbynyte.livejournal.com]

Long time no see, glad you stopped back to the LJ to say hello to us. As for plants, I used to have agreen thumb, now I'm lucky to keep an 'air fern' alive. But I do have an 8 foot tall corn plant in my dining room that just won't die. No amount of neglect seems to matter. Poor plant. But I did decorate it for Christmas....does that count ;)