On the 15th of each month, Garden Blogger's Bloom Day, garden bloggers all over the world link up to show whatever is blooming in their neck of the woods. Here in Hartwood, where we had temperatures in the 20s for three nights last week, the flowers outside are finished. Here in the house, though, my Christmas Cactus is putting on its annual show.
I searched for years to find a Christmas Cactus with pale flowers ... being more accustomed to seeing the more common bright red or hot pink ones in the store. Two years ago, tucked in the back of a clearance table at Home Depot, I spotted this pale pink beauty. It had one lone flower on it at the time, and it looked pretty distressed, but I was thrilled to scoop it up and bring it home.
When the buds began to open last week, I discovered that there are salmon colored flowers among the pale pink. These plants are created in the nurseries by planting a number of rooted cuttings into the the same pot, and whoever did this one accidently placed two salmon cuttings among the pink ones. At first, I was a bit disturbed ... but I soon came to appreciate the contrast, and now I'm okay with it.
I don't think I have ever seen a salmon Christmas Cactus for sale, and I haven't seen a pale pink one since I bought this one. After mine has finished flowering, I plan to root come cuttings from each part of the plant so I will have plants to share. Unlike the person who produced my plant, I plan to keep to one color per pot.
What I love most about Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day is visiting gardens all over the world to see what's happening there. So, I'm off now to visit May Dreams Gardens to see who has linked up and what they have for us to see. You should go, too.
