How to Care for a Holiday Cactus
THE LOCAL COLUMN in the December 23, 1915, edition of a rural New York newspaper noted a variety of newsworthy tidbits, including the fact that Miss Halwick was expected home for the holidays, that Mr. Green had back pain and was “confined to his home for several days,” and that Mrs. Van Etten had a Christmas cactus “in bloom for the holidays.”
The blooming of your cactus probably won’t make the society column in your local newspaper, but it is an exciting occasion, especially if the blooms coincide with the holiday season. Here’s how to put the odds of success in your favor.
CHRISTMAS CACTUS CONFUSION
If there’s one thing that’s certain about plants in the genus, it’s that the nomenclature is a little confusing. Common namesthe genus, and plants are often mislabeled. Many of the plants sold as Christmas cactuses ( x ) are actually Thanksgiving cactuses () timed to bloom at Christmas. (In subsequent years, people often wonder why their “Christmas” cactus plants bloom naturally at Thanksgiving.) The dividing line between these two cactus species gets a bit blurry at times, but here are the basics:
