Mother says ..... it's almost Christmas.
'Mother' is our nickname for our Christmas Cacti, the one we inherited from my lovely Mum in Law, Jessie. Before Jessie looked after this lovely plant it was Grannie's ... this plant has seen more Christmas holidays than I have ... so I won't argue with her if she says Christmas is just around the corner.
It is absolutely covered in flower buds, and this week all the flowers in the top picture burst open. It's pretty much looked after itself this plant, a bi-weekly water when it's dormant and then once buds appear it gets a weekly water and a bi-weekly feed of Baby Bio.
It had a good pruning last year just after it flowered by Charley, the Chug. She nibbled the ends off every branch, which seemingly as I later read will have done the plant a real favour. So to see the flowers opening up is a wonderful reminder of our gorgeous little pup, as well as happy memories of seeing the plant in situ with Mum.
Suky is not impressed with all this Christmas talk.
"Christmas already .... really."
Sue xx
When DS was four we took him and a friend of his from nursery to the Santa Special on Llangollen Railway. They (and we) had a wonderful time, and when we returned his 'girlfriend' to her parents, I was given a Christmas cactus as a 'thank you'. She's a mere slip of a girl compared to 'Mother' but she's twenty four this year, so not doing too bad! Her name's Mildred, don't know why, it just happened.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely story ... and Mildred's a wonderful name for your Christmas cacti :-)
DeleteI have one of those which was bought with a voucher for Christmas 1972 now huge and doesn't have many flowers so will try "biting" off the tips to prune it as your dog did for yours.
ReplyDeleteI was very tempted to buy one in Lidl yesterday. We had two plants for years and they were always in full bloom at Christmas with the most amazing cerise pink flowers. If they've got any left in Lidl I might just buy one.
ReplyDeleteMine was from Lidl about 3 years ago. Bought cheap as rather bedragled and sad looking at the time. It's now magnificent and in full bloom! Well worth the money.
DeleteI love Christmas cactus. I had one that was beautiful. When my sister was ill I went to take care of her and my husband over watered it and then decided it was beyond help so he disposed of it. I'm going to get another make sure he knows not to water it except if told to.
ReplyDeleteSuky is gorgeous ! :)
ReplyDeleteChristmas is December in my mind, nothing more or less. I hope the cactus didn't prickle the dog's tummy too much!
ReplyDeleteShe never ate the leaves, just chewed them off and left all the bits on the table, she was mischievous that dog and never seemed to mind a telling off ;-)
DeleteI adore the look in her eyes in that bottom photograph. So typically pug.
ReplyDeleteThey do it so well don't they ......
DeleteI know when Christmas is coming when my Cactus starts filling up with buds and Satsumas appear in the shops...
ReplyDeleteMy Christmas Cactus is a cutting from a cutting taken from my Mother's huge one, that I inherited after she died in 1997 and goodness knows how long she had had it. They seem to be indestructible, and glorious.
My nan used to have red flowering one ,Thanks for the memory of my nan xxx
ReplyDeleteI had a pink one which grew so enormous I had no room for it and offered it on Freecycle. Fortunately it was taken by the person who used to look after my dog occasionally so I got to visit it. They called it Wilf. I then inherited a lovely, white one from my Mum which is just finishing flowering now. It usually flowers two or three times a year.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful reminder of those people you love.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Clever dog to prune it so expertly! I'm confused, though - in the first photo it appears to have pinky-purple flowers but in the second photo it has orange ones. Is it a hybrid? I'd love to see 'Mother' when she's in full flower, please.
ReplyDeleteClick on the second photo to enlarge it and you will see that the orange you can see on the second photo is from the row of pumpkins drying out on the window sill behind the plant.
DeleteShe is not a hybrid, and her flowers are a glorious bright pink with a touch of white. The side you are looking at and seeing the pumpkins didn't have many flowers open yesterday, just buds on the end of all the branches, this morning it is a different story.
Once she is fully flowering I will try and remember to get another photo.
That'll teach me to always enlarge photos! NOW I can see that the orange is the pumpkins behind the plant and once recognised, I see it in the original photo now.
DeleteYou've set me off now - I want to buy a Christmas Cactus!
We had snow yesterday and our outside xmas tree has been turned on since right after Halloween. Bring on the Christmas flowers and fun.
ReplyDeleteOur one dog chews things and spits them out as well.
Your Christmas Cacti is amazing and so HUGE! Wonderful blooming. I am looking forward to celebrate Christmas soon, It is my favorite holiday.
ReplyDelete