Christmas Cactus! A most unusual exuberant plant.

Sometimes the most humble thing can be the most wonderful.

That’s how I feel about a good bowl of soup. And, about the Christmas cactus.

The blooms are stunningly beautiful. Even the foliage is an unusual example in the plant world. The leaves are connected top-to-bottom to the next leaf in a chain, rather than protruding left and right off a center vein.

So Many Family Members in Schlumbergera

The Christmas cactus, a species of Schlumbergera, is a succulent that typically blooms around the end of the year, about Christmastime.

There are many species of Schlumbergera. The ones we see most commonly today are hybrids created from wild varieties of Brazil. All of them are in the cactus family (Cactaceae) and in the genus Schlumbergera.

Ironically, the most popular species sold at Christmastime is the Thanksgiving cactus. The noticeable difference between the three most popular varieties is in the shape of the leaves.

A Thanksgiving cactus has leaves with serrated edges. They look claw-like or crab like. In the Christmas cactus, the leaves are rounded or scalloped on the edges. And the Easter cactus has little hairy "eyelashes" on the ends of some of the leaves.

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All three have delicate, fussy flowers hanging at the end of the chain of leaves. Blooms appear in orange, cantaloupe-color, fuchsia, magenta, red, white, and yellow. They can be prolific bloomers. After the blooms appear as oval buds, they send out cascading petals and finish in a column of filaments that appear like falling fireworks.

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Below is an example of a Christmas cactus created in paper cutting and watercolor by my friend Joy Yarbrough. 

Joy cuts design with surgical scissors while she holds the paper in the air. It is not placed on a table- I've watched her do this and I still can't believe it. 

In this example, she has added watercolor to her design. Since this cactus has the sharp points, I'd consider this a Thanksgiving cactus.

For more on Joy's work, please see my blog post, "When Shape Is The Thing… From Matisse’s Cut-outs To Silhouettes. "

Kind of an Upside-down Pagoda-Shaped

The petals remind me of upside-down pagodas. Note the decreasing size of the roof on the pagoda and the similar effect toward the tip of the bloom on the cactus.

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For simplicity in this essay, I’m going to clump these three varieties together as “Christmas cactus.”

Cool Temperatures and Some Darkness Accelerate Blooming

By blooming during the darkest, shortest, and coldest days in the Northern hemisphere, the Christmas cactus demonstrate its ability to outshine the depths of winter. Some Christians believe that the exuberant blooming of the Christmas cactus celebrates the birth of Jesus and the expectation of spring with its renewal of fertility and abundance.

An individual plant can live over 100 years. Mine was propagated off a "mother plant" that was over 50 years old when I got it 30 years ago!

​They are not picky about soil and prefer to dry out—rather than have “wet feet.” They can handle a broad range of intensity of light and will tell you what they like. If it’s too bright the leaves turn a washed-out dull green. Provide just the right amount of light and the leaves are shiny with a vibrant, rich intense green color. If it’s too dry, the plant will wilt, and the succulent leaves will look limp and shriveled.

A thriving plant will continually add new leaves at the tips of the chain of leaves on the stem segments. And when the blooming season arrives, it will develop numerous buds, each one on the tip of a leaf.

The petals of the blooms are shiny and translucent.

After the Blooming Cycle

I move my plants into my garden in the summer.

When fall comes, I rinse them off and bring them in. I trim off any battered, dried out branches, and give the plant a good soaking in my sink. From then on, I situate it in indirect light in a fairly cool area, and I keep it on the drier side.

I don’t stress over it. It is trouble free for me -- the perfect plant for this time in our lives! :-)

Here’s a few tips for care of your Christmas cactus: ​

1. ​Light: Set in bright, indirect sunlight. South window.​
2. Watering: Water when the top inch of soil feels dry; avoid letting it sit in water.
3. Humidity: They prefer higher humidity than most cacti. You may mist the leaves with water.
4. Temperature: They thrive in 65–75°F but benefit from cooler nights 50–65°F to set the buds.
5. Fertilizer: Use a diluted houseplant fertilizer during the growing season (spring to summer). I never remember to fertilize mine because they are hidden in my garden! Maybe this year, I will remember.

It’s so nice to have something blooming in the winter!