Make sun while the hay shines
But enough about hay… let’s go inside and visit the Schlumbergeras. One variety, Thanksgiving cactus, is blooming now and does so about this time every year, so we named a holiday after it. There’s another variety that blooms next month on another holiday, and I have one that blooms on Martin Luther King, Jr., Day. They show up for the celebrations.
The genus Schlumbergera got its name from influential French botanist Charles Lemaire. He named it after his friend Frédéric Schlumberger who had a collection of cacti at his chateau in northern France in the mid-19th century. They’re related to cacti, but they need shelter from extremes. My mom’s northwest-facing bay window in northern Louisiana worked well.
A quick review of the usual references for facts and that other stuff revealed no information whatsoever on why Fred got hooked on cacti. His estate was near Rouen, France, which – being near the Channel – had a moderate temperature year-‘round, apparently comfortable enough for Fred’s hobby. Maybe he didn’t like golf, so he focused on cacti.
The Thanksgiving cactus, S. truncata, blooms in mid-November, and S. x buckleyi, or Christmas cactus, blooms in early winter. S. Gaertneri blooms in spring. Once someone in a neighborhood has one, it is inevitable most every nearby bay window eventually will have one or two. They are eager to replicate themselves. Ten years ago or so, I came across a discarded stem on a cold concrete floor under a cart in a dark corner of a big box hardware store, so I wrapped it in a napkin for safekeeping. It now commands a four square-foot area and is the wise old ancestor to its tribe. It is just now beginning to sprout seasonal buds for the next holiday.
Schlumbergera come in colors and are native to the mountains along Brazil’s southern Atlantic coast. Locals call it the May Plant even though it blooms in their autumn. Blooming now in northern Madison County are ivory-colored flowers with vague pink undertones, and another plant has vibrant pink flowers. There are countless cultivars created by folks using selective breeding which means gardeners who try might create new color patterns. Cool.
The stems are segmented, and a snapped-off segment will root (and toot) if given a chance. The Thanksgiving cactus has pointy parts on its segments and Mr. Christmas has rounder segments.
Starting a new Christmas cactus is simple. If you have a chemistry lab or climate-controlled greenhouse handy, you can apply serious science to the process, or you can respectfully insert a segment into some potting soil and water occasionally. That’s it. They don’t ask for much, they only want trust, and, you know, it don’t come easy.
In their native habitat, they grow among rocks, so they are hereditarily accustomed to small growing areas. Also, they enjoy humidity if you can provide it. Even a misting sometimes or sitting near a sink would be enough. Nevertheless, they endure misplacement and our neglect as long as they have some water occasionally and indirect light.
Though most gardeners don’t fiddle much with Schlumbergeras, there is a science to maximizing the flowering period. These plants instinctively put on flowers during cooler nighttime temperatures and days with less sunlight. Therefore, a person paying attention can harbor the Schlumbergeras in a cooler room with less light for a while. Once blooming starts, keep the plants at a moderate temperature with a weekly watering and they might bloom for a month or more.
When blooming fades is the time to prune if you so choose. Pruning would be for removing stems that infringe on the space of other stems, and every pruned segment will root if planted, and once rooted, the new plant must go somewhere. That is how Schlumbergeras migrate house-to-house down the street, and then around the corner, and that’s what makes the world go ‘round.
Schlumbergeras for everyone!