Christmas Cactus

While it was a glorious spring day in Virginia, something seemed oddly wrong when I sat down at my desk this afternoon. As I glanced at the plant stand, I noticed that the Christmas cactus (Zygocactus) had buds all over it. Upon closer examination, I discovered a flower in full bloom.

This particular cactus is four or five years old and seems to bloom whenever it feels the urge. But, in full disclosure, I don’t really take the time to prep it for a Christmas bloom with many hours in a dark room. This house plant resides in our family room where it may enjoy a night of Wii until the wee hours, a late-night book club meeting and the frequent Capitals hockey games on the big screen. This year there were no blooms at Christmas, but, really, it seems much more natural for this plant to bloom in concert with most every other plant in our hemisphere…so, spring has sprung with an exclamation point, according to our Christmas cactus.