It turns out the pink buds are turning into scarlet flowers. Does that mean the red buds are going to be pink flowers? Meanwhile, one flower is beginning to bloom with another one right behind it and lot of small buds. Maybe I’ll get a few weeks of blooming!

They were pink, but suddenly, they are very red

It was blooming while I was taking pictures

They were advertising these as “spring” cactus. Pretty funny because mine are suddenly spring cacti too since they are beginning to bloom. All these cacti are the same. They bloom when they feel like it and that can be any time of the year. It’s one of the things that makes them fun. It isn’t like an outdoor garden with specific growing periods and blooming intervals. Inside a house, it’s always blooming time, if the plant gets that reproductive urge.

Plants do not read calendars. No matter what you call them, they will continue to bloom when they feel like it. The last time these bloomed, it was Thanksgiving, but both of them kept blooming through Christmas into January. When all the flowers were gone, I re-potted it. I hate repotting succulents because they don’t like it at all and sometimes collapse and die. I’ve had a hard time bringing these plants back to even a moderate degree of health since January.  Pieces of it died, but I ran out of time.

It wasn’t the excessive growth of the roots. It was the deadness of the soil which was more than 15 years old and had no life in it. Fertilizer only takes you so far. Eventually, you need fresh earth.

They were advertising these as “spring” cactus, which is pretty funny.

I did the best I could using the right soil and pot, but both plants have had a hard time reviving. Then, suddenly, in the middle of March, both plants which still looked sad, droopy, and ragged, began to form tiny buds. Now there are flowers on the “good” side of the plants, while the other side still looks pretty sad. There are still some dead-looking branches there, but I’m leaving them. They might revive. Succulents can look very dead and still come back to life.

For some of this planting, you need a certain kind of faith that you’ve done everything you can. Once you realize there’s nothing more you can do, the best and only thing to do is water it when it’s dry and leave it in peace while hoping for the best. So far, so good. Imperfect, but not a total failure.

Categories: #cactus, #Flowers, #Photography, Blackstone Valley, Cee's Photo Challenge, Christmas cactus, Flower of the day

Tags: #FOTD, #Photography, Christmas cactus, Marilyn Armstrong