Better Early then Never

Two views of my Thanksgiving cactus in bloom: from above on the porch, left, and sitting in it's Southeast window indoors, right.

Moving indoors from its summer sojourn in the shade garden, my Thanksgiving Cactus is blooming early. When I brought it in last week, I could see many buds on it, and the better light and warmer temperatures in my apartment have brought out the blooms. Usually it blooms a bit later, closer to Thanksgiving, but I'll take flowers any time of the year. This is one of the newer ones, I believe my mother bought it in the mid 1970s. The other cactuses (or cacti-I remember from last summer's post!) are the rounded leave version, which I call Christmas cactuses. Three of them are still only showing leaves, but one of the small ones I started last year from my dying 114 year old plant, is starting to show teeny-tiny buds. I guess that one will be early too. The plants absolutely loved their new position in the shade garden, on top of a white wrought-iron planter, as opposed to sitting on my porch behind the Azaleas where the chipmonks would dig in their pots every so often. The leaves of these plants have never looked greener or healthier, a great sign since I lost my oldest one last winter.