Garden Blog Bloom Day

There isn't much blooming in my South Texas garden this winter.  But my Christmas cactus is a totally different story.  Here it is in its full glory!

If you go back to Christmas of 2009 when I first posted about this special plant, you can see how much it has grown in just a couple of years!  Very cool for me to see :)

GBBD - Christmas Cactus

The Christmas cactus that is living in my greenhouse is in full glorious bloom.  This one is also a descendant of my grandfather's plant.  It warms my heart when it blooms like this.  I hope it does yours too :)

Christmas Orchid

I bought this orchid about six weeks ago.  It had lots of tiny buds that promised a show of beautiful flowers when they bloomed.  And it did not disappoint.  Look at this beautiful plant!

It's an Oncidium Twinkle Fragrance Fantasy orchid and it is gorgeous.  And it's timing was perfect!  We had my husband's annual staff Christmas party at our home this past weekend and this beautiful plant was in full bloom.  It fit in perfectly with my Christmas decorations.  The flowers are tiny white blooms and quite fragrant for an orchid.

It should bloom for weeks and every time I look at it, it makes me smile :)  Now my challenge is to get it to rebloom!

Christmas Cactus

My Christmas cactus is getting ready to bloom!

It's a time I look forward to every Christmas season.  Around the middle of November/early December, I start looking at the tips of the leaves to see if I can see the buds beginning to form.  Well I noticed a couple of days ago that yes, they sure are!

 

Last year, I posted the story behind my Christmas cactus so I wont' repeat myself.  You can go back to that post and read it if you'd like.  In any case, this plant is very special to me and it makes me smile to know it will bloom again this year :) 

Merry Christmas!

Of all the plants in my life, this one is my favorite.  It's my Christmas cactus and I thought it appropriate to post a few photograhs of it in its full glory on Christmas Day.  Not only is it a beautiful plant, but it carries a wonderful story.

My beloved grandfather died on December 13, 1984.  He always had a great vegetable garden, small but very productive.  I remember as a kid going to his garden with him to "pluck tomatoes and cukes."  My mother says I get my green thumb from him and I believe her. 

Throughout my entire childhood I remember Pepere (French for grandfather) had this big beautiful plant that would bloom pink flowers around Christmastime every year.  I always wondered how that happened since it never bloomed any other time of year.

When he died my mother inherited his Christmas cactus and when I left home in 1979, I took a few clippings of the plant with me.  I planted and nurtured them.  The cactus grew beautifully and survived many moves throughout the next 30 years.  This plant you see here today is from those initial clippings of my Pepere's Christmas cactus. 

With the exception of the first year it bloomed (which happened to be on my birthday in February the year after my grandfather died), this beautiful cactus has bloomed every Christmas without fail.  Every season when I see the buds beginning to form and know that it will bloom again this year, I silently thank my grandfather.  Merry Christmas to you too, Pepere.

Merry Christmas to each and every one of you.  May you be surrounded by loved ones and happy times on this Blessed of Days.