Like I said, something is wrong here.. This is July and my Christmas Cactus is in full bloom.. We are months away from Christmas.. Either the plant is totally mixed up or it thinks it might be Christmas in July...
Don... Just quietly, I kind of like the look of the blooming plant even though it isn't Christmas.. It is actually outside in this extreme heat and it gets plenty of water.. It isn't a huge one, but it is very good looking during the summer months on the patio..
I love Christmas cactus! How nice that you're seeing blooms now, Steve. "Christmas in July!" as the shopping channels proclaim.
Has anyone see a Boojum tree? A house up the road from us has one. Only one we've seen outside of an Arboretum.
@Beth Gallagher I would say about 20 to 30 feet, maybe more. We saw our first one in the Boyce Thompson Arboretum outside of Superior, AZ. It was the strangest thing we had ever seen. Just now, looking it up, learned it is in the Ocotillo family, AKA "Coachwhip", of which tens of thousands cover the mountains outside of Bisbee, AZ, not too far from Tombstone. If you care to read a bit, the Wiki on Boojum Tree is good: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fouquieria_columnaris Boojum tree in Baja California desert, Cataviña region. Ocotillo: "Ocotillo is not a true cactus. For much of the year, the plant appears to be an arrangement of large spiny dead sticks, although closer examination reveals that the stems are partly green. With rainfall, the plant quickly becomes lush with small (2–4 cm), ovate leaves, which may remain for weeks or even months." Ocotillo near Gila Bend, Arizona See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fouquieria_splendens The Ocotillo gets beautiful red flowers in the Springtime for a few weeks:
Our Christmas Cactus is in full bloom, just in time for the holiday season. I divided it last year, so now we have two of them, and they are both blossoming right now.
Desert plants remain inexplicable, to me. Majority of cactus and similar succulents bloom for a few weeks each during Springtime, beginning in March. We have had not a STITCH of rainfall in well over 200 days now, many Desert scrubs show the brunt of lack of moisture, after surviving 6 weeks of 110+ degree days this summer, then 100 degree days every day since (almost). Two "fronts" passed through, dropping temperatures drastically, but only lasted 4 or 5 days: today's temps. 49` low, 85` high, some light clouds. The other factor is WIND. Sustained 30 mph+ winds have battered everything, these lasting almost a week each time, then light winds, then BIG ones again. This "dessicates" the poor plants, draws out their moisture. Yet, several species began producing prolifically a wide range of flowers about 3 months ago: This guy somehow ignores the lack of moisture! As does this: These little guys go to town here: These things are called "Coachwhips", or more correctly Ocotillo. They bloom in beautiful red flowers in March-April only, occasionally turning completely brown over Winter, looking dead. There is an entire mountain covered with Ocotillo, perhaps tens or hundreds of thousands of them, excluding most other plants, outside of Bisbee, Arizona, which lies at 5500 feet altitude, conducive to much Desert plant activity: record temps, high 106`F, low -14` F; average rainfall 18.6", snowfall 10". Ya don't mess with Mother Nature in the Desert! Bisbee, 1916 Bisbee, 2009 Frank
Our large Christmas cactus is in full bloom, and the smaller one should be blooming before much longer. They are so beautiful when they are blossoming.
Gorgeous. Mine is loaded with buds so I'm waiting on all the blooms to open. I had a couple about a month ago, too.