This is a holiday cactus without a holiday this year, as it has decided to bloom with neither Thanksgiving or Easter nearby. (I absolutely refuse to call it a St. Patrick’s Day cactus.) I’m not mad about it – these blooms are a life-giver in these despondent last weeks of winter, made so much worse by snowstorms and plunging temperatures that would have been better-received in January or February.
This stalwart plant has been with us for about two decades, becoming a cherished friend like so many of these cactuses tend to do, and throwing out these magnificently-colored blooms in two main shows per year – once in the fall and once in the spring. The last few years have changed just about everything we thought we knew, especially those things I thought would never change; this little plant is a welcome reminder that there are some things that continue no matter what else is going on, triggered by seasonal light and set into motion by nature herself.
