Yikes! It's A Yucca!

I love yuccas! If you've been reading along, you've probably figured out by now that there aren't too many plants I don't love, but I really, REALLY love yuccas! They're the agaves of cold-climate gardens. They give us that (mostly) stiff, upright, sword-like texture that is so important in the garden. I mean, really, what's not to love? They're tough, drought tolerant, evergreen; they come in a wide array of sizes, habits and forms. They offer up foliage in green, grey, blue, chartreuse and any number of variegated combinations! When they flower, they put on an amazing show that usually lasts for several weeks and then they develop seedpods that carry the interest right on through the fall and winter. It seems to me that they are very nearly perfect!

Although I've rarely (maybe never) met a yucca I didn't like, I do have a few standout favorites that I feel the need to tell you about. The first is Yucca rostrata 'Sapphire Skies'. This is a recent introduction from Sean Hogan at Cistus Nursery (http://www.cistus.com/) and is set to take that gardening world by storm. Sean selected this form from a batch of seedlings for its powder blue color and it is now being grown from tissue culture and introduced widely in the nursery trade. It is pictured at the top of this entry in a photo from Terra Nova Nurseries (http://www.terranovanurseries.com/). Yucca rostrata is one of the hardiest of all trunk-forming yuccas and should perform splendidly well into Zone 5. In about 10 years time you can expect a magnificent specimen with a rounded head of powder-blue leaves atop a 4-foot trunk.

Another recent introduction and a truly spectacular plant is Yucca filamentosa 'Color Guard', with the most distinct golden variegation of any cultivar I've grown. It has far surpassed any other yucca in the garden where foliage color is concerned. The leaves are brilliant creamy gold with a deep green edge. In winter, the yellow variegation remains strong and is suffused with shades of deep, rich pink when grown in full sun. Talk about a spectacular combination! It is quickly becoming the industry standard for variegated yuccas and is, or soon will be, widely available at your local garden centers.

Now, with all of that carrying on over 'Color Guard', I do have to pay due respect to several other variegated yuccas that are more than deserving of your attention. Another that I have grown for a number of years and that has proven outstanding is Yucca gloriosa 'Variegata'. The leaves of this beautiful plant are blue-green with a lovely gold margin that changes to a light, creamy yellow during the summer months. In winter, it too takes on shades of pink around its edges when the weather turns cold. Yucca gloriosa is another of the trunk-forming yuccas, though slightly less hardy. I have had it in my Zone 6 garden for 6 years and it has flourished. In warmer climates you can expect it to form a trunk up to 4 feet tall after several years. One warning: The leaves on Yucca gloriosa are very rigid and viciously armed at the tip with a long black spine. Site it accordingly, i.e. probably not right next to the back door where you're carrying groceries in each week.

Yucca recurvifolia 'Gold Ribbons' is another bright spot in the garden--literally! One of the largest yuccas, it may reach upwards of 4 feet in diameter and, with some age, may form a trunk up to 6 feet tall. This takes some time, though, so don't let its size scare you off. The color is to die for! Brilliant gold leaves with deep, emerald green margins are soft, flexible and are not spined so no worries about backing into it while weeding! Another form that is occasionally offered is Yucca recurvifolia 'Variegata' with pendant, blue leaves edged in chartreuse/gold. With time it, too, will form a spectacular specimen. Both of these plants are available from Plant Delights Nursery (http://www.plantdelights.com/), for one, and 'Gold Ribbons' is also available from Yucca Do (http://www.yuccado.com/). Additional variegated forms you might be interested in include Yucca filamentosa 'Bright Edge', Yucca aloifolia 'Marginata', Yucca filamentosa 'Golden Sword' and Yucca filamentosa 'Garland Gold'. All are worthy garden plants.

I would be entirely remiss in leaving out the beautiful green and blue-green foliaged yuccas that have been garden stalwarts for so many years. Yucca glauca, Yucca filamentosa, Yucca rostrata (the species), Yucca baccata and several others all offer fine architecture to the garden throughout the year. Their candelabras of ivory-white bells in early to late summer are added bonuses when they occur (some more regularly than others)! This is not an exhaustive list, rather it is something to whet your horticultural appetite. I also tried not to list plants that wouldn't be hardy reasonably far north--at least Zone 6 and several into Zone 5. Yucca glauca will easily go into Zone 4. For those of you who live in Zones 7 and warmer, your choices increase 10-fold. Everyone should have a love affair with yuccas!

A New Gardening Friend

Well, spring has finally sprung here in Nashville and even though a few cold nights still linger in the long range forecast it doesn’t seem, at least for now, that we’re looking at anything terribly threatening. Of course, that could all change at the drop of a hat, but for now I’m choosing to believe that spring is here. It SMELLS like spring and that’s always the best of signs!

When I walked out the door this morning, it smelled earthy and damp and fresh and rejuvenated. It did wonders for my spirit. Spring is the season of renewal–the season of rebirth–the season when everything is clean and sparkling and the bedraggled days of summer are but a mere speck on the horizon. It’s the season when I simply cannot be outdoors enough, soaking up the warm rays of sunshine, feeling the cool, damp earth beneath my fingernails (real gardeners don’t wear gloves!) and that SMELL–that glorious, amazing, wonderful smell. The smell of spring.

I’ve made a new gardening friend that I felt I must write and tell you about. Helen Dillon. Perhaps some of you know her or at least have heard of her. She’s a prolific writer, an amazing gardener and an absolutely delightful person. If you subscribe to The English Garden magazine, I’m sure you’ve read her column that appears in each issue. Perhaps her books have a prominent place in your horticultural library.

We were fortunate to have her visit Nashville last weekend as the keynote speaker for the Nashville Lawn and Garden Show. I was on the roster this year, too, and had the good fortune to follow Helen after her Sunday presentation to a crowd of about 100 serious gardeners. I had the even better fortune of being able to join her for dinner on Friday evening and then take her out afterward for a little “honky-tonking”, Nashville style. You haven’t been out in Nashville unless you’ve been to Robert’s Western World on Friday night to hear The Steve Kelley Band and Brazil Billy–so that’s exactly what we did!

We said our “Goodbyes” after I finished my talk at the show on Sunday afternoon, but it doesn’t take gardeners long to bond. The common thread that is tied to and through all of us who love plants is a very strong tie and I already feel as though I have made a great new gardening friend with whom to trade information, ideas and the occasional chat. I hope Helen feels the same and I hope she had as delightful a time here in Nashville as we had hosting her. The pleasure was certainly ours. Please be sure to visit Helen’s website at http://www.dillongarden.com/

Happy Gardening!

Greening Up The Indoors

While winter’s icy grip may have many gardeners house-bound for several more weeks, there is no reason to let the fact that the ground is frozen keep us from gardening. And even if you live in a milder climate where the ground is workable and the days are balmy, winter is still a great season to think about adding a few houseplants to your indoor environment. They brighten the room, freshen the air and they give us something to focus on while we drool over the ever-growing stack of catalogs by the chair in anticipation of spring.

“Houseplants” have a come a long way, baby! Even the most mundane of the old-fashioned types have gotten a facelift in the past decade or so. The Chinese evergreen (Aglaonema) comes in a stunning array of green, silver and gold combinations, the old-fashioned “corn plant” (Dracaena fragrans) comes in a shocking new shade of chartreuse (gardening’s most “in” color at the moment), and even the stalwart old “rubber tree” (Ficus elastica) comes in spectacular green-and-white or green-and-pink variegated forms! These are not your grandmother’s houseplants! The great thing is that even though they come in all of these beautiful new forms, their hardiness hasn’t waned a bit. They’re still the tough old houseplants I remember from my childhood–just in more spectacular dress.

A few of my newer favorites include Dracaena fragrans ‘Limelight’, the “shocking chartreuse” form of the old-fashioned corn plant that I mentioned above (it’s also spectacular outdoors in a shady spot for the summer), and Aglaonema x ‘Golden Bay’, a newer form of the old “Chinese evergreen” with leaves of deep green overlaid with pewter and silver, and a golden yellow mid-rib running down the center of the leaf. The old-fashioned heartleaf philodendron (Philodendron scandens) also comes in some new color variations and it’s certainly still as tough as its old green counterpart. ‘Aurea’ has leaves of solid golden-chartreuse that scream from across the room, and if you want something a little more sophisticated try the variety ‘Brasil’, with deep green leaves boasting a lime green center. Gorgeous!

Pothos (Devil’s Ivy) has also undergone a dramatic change with the variety ‘Neon’, a solid chartreuse-yellow form that will fill a hanging basket in no time.

And do you remember the “Ti Plant”? “The Amazing Ti Plant”–in advertisements in every TV Guide and lady’s magazine of the 1970’s–a plant that grew from just a piece of the trunk! “Plant it and watch it grow! Yours for only $1.99 during this special offer!” Well, hold on to your hats, because the “old-fashioned” Ti plant is now one of the hottest plants around. New color forms are being introduced every year and they just keeping getting bigger, brighter, better and more beautiful–shocking shades of fuchsia, red, pink, green, cream, yellow and white–sometimes with 3 or 4 colors in every leaf! These are another outstanding “houseplant” for outdoor containers in the summer and nearly impossible to fail with indoors!

Hopefully, you’ve already read the entry on begonias–my current obsession. If not, scroll down and you’ll find it below. Talk about a tough and undemanding group of plants! There are certainly scores of others and I would encourage all of you to visit your local garden centers and nurseries to see the latest and greatest things they have available. Do a little internet research, too, as there are always new introductions being made.

Aquatic Giants

During the summer of 1991 I had the good fortune of being selected to participate in the internship program at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA. I had the even better fortune of being selected to serve my term under the guiding hand of Patrick Nutt, a renowned expert on all things horticulture, but even more renowned for his voluminous knowledge of aquatic plants and gardens. It was here, under Pat’s expert guidance, that I first laid eyes on and eventually got to work with one of the most-revered aquatic plants in the world–the giant waterlily, Victoria.

There are two species in the genus Victoria, V. amazonica and V. cruziana.

In 1961, Pat created the first hybrid between the two species and the rest is history. Victoria x ‘Longwood Hybrid’ set the bar for giant waterlilies for nearly 40 years until the cross was re-made in the late ’90’s by enterprising water garden enthusiasts Kit and Ben Knotts of Cocoa Beach, Florida.

So what is this giant waterlily? Where did it come from? Both species, Victoria amazonica and Victoria cruziana, are native to South America, the former found in the lowland rivers and lakes of the Amazon river basin, while the latter is found in higher elevations of Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina. Both are, obviously, of tropical origin, but because V. cruziana grows at higher elevations it is more tolerant of cooler temperatures. This ability to tolerate cooler temperatures is what has made it an indispensible parent to its hybrid progeny, giving gardeners in more temperate climes the ability to grow these magnificent plants.

It was a thrill for me, as a young horticulture student barely 20 years old, to work with both a renowned plant and a renowned plantsman. It was an even greater thrill when Pat invited me to join he and several others at Longwood’s famous water garden one evening to assist in the process of making the cross between the two Victoria species that results in Longwood’s namesake hybrid. The process was fascinating–everyone in hip waders, squeezing in between the gigantic, platter-like leaves some of which approached nearly 6 feet in diameter and viciously armed along their stems and undersides with inch-long spines. Pollen was transferred from flower to flower and those that “took” would sink below the water’s surface to form a seed pod that would eventually be harvested and the seed stored for the following year’s display.

These giant “water platters” are some of the most fascinating plants that I have had the opportunity to work with. As I already mentioned, they are viciously armed with spines that may be an inch long in some cases and wickedly sharp. But when you live in the Amazon, you have to learn to protect yourself from things that might decide you’re a delicacy! Before you get up close and personal enough to notice their spines, though, it’s their sheer size that never fails to impress; individual leaves may reach as much as 6 feet across on a well-grown specimen. The underside of the leaves is an intricate tapestry of veins that look for all the world like an art nouveau stained glass window and the rim of the leaf turns up around the edges, standing as much as 4 inches high in some plants.

Perhaps the most anticipated event of all, though, is the plant’s flowering, which happens at night and adds greatly to the plants’ mystique. The buds, too, are covered in spines and grow to about the size of a goose egg as they break the surface of the water. On the first night’s opening they are pure white and the size of a dinner plate, exuding the fragrance of pineapple as they float on the water’s surface. At dawn the following day, they close, and upon re-opening for their second night’s display have turned rosy pink. This display will continue on for several weeks, through late summer and well into the fall if the water temperature remains warm.
Victoria lilies are available from time to time from several of the mail order water gardening nurseries. Don’t let their ultimate size discourage you, as their growth will match the size of the pond they are growing in (within reason). They still need a little elbow room, but if you have a nice sized pond, it would be fun to give one a try. Even if you only get leaves 3 feet across, who else do you know who has a water lily that size???

For some beautiful photographs and a considerable amount of information about the amazing Victoria lilies and their hybrids, click here: http://www.victoria-adventure.org/victoria/victoria_identification.html

The Addict

As I’ve already admitted, I have a serious addiction. My friend Dan would tell me to introduce myself thusly, “Hi. I’m Troy Marden and I’m a hortiholic.” Well, it’s true. This addiction has been with me for more than 30 years and seems to have no interest in releasing its icy grip. Some friends suggested that perhaps I should go to meetings. “I do,” I replied. “Garden clubs, orchid societies, rose societies, herb societies, Perennial Plant Association, Garden Writers, lawn and garden shows, flower shows, bromeliad societies, cactus societies, tropical plant societies, open gardens…..” I go to meetings all the time! Anything to feed the beast!

Others have suggested I should take up another hobby–something to redirect my attention elsewhere. “Perhaps you should read more,” tried one friend. I READ!!! Thank-you-very-much!
The Forest Farm catalog is right here next to the computer! I type and read at the same time. Not only do I READ, I multitask! Perhaps you should read more…..hmmph! On the sofa there are catalogs from Plant Delights, Heronswood, Greenhouse Growers Supply, Tomato Growers Supply and a dreeeaaaamy plant list from Sean Hogan at Cistus Nursery. On the night stand are Garden Design, Fine Gardening, Horticulture, Tennessee Gardener, The English Garden, and at least six special interest publications–container gardening, perennials, planting combinations–you name it. And next to the commode are the back issues! Perhaps you should read more…..hmmph!

It has become a running joke amongst my friends–my little plant addiction. For the past 4 years I’ve been living in a rental situation where I refused to actually plant any of my prized plants–children, actually–into the ground in a place that I would not be residing permanently. So, they’re all in pots. “All of them?” you ask. Yes, all of them. Over 200 as of last week’s inventory and this number swells to over 300 during the summer months when I have all of the annuals and tropicals thrown into the mix. Some I overwinter and some I don’t.

“Oh, are you starting a nursery?” one unsuspecting visitor asked. No, I’m not, thank you. They’re mine. ALL MINE!!! Don’t touch them. And don’t even THINK about taking those tiny little scissors out of your pocket that you think I can’t see and try to sneak cuttings! I have eyes in the back of my head–with X-ray vision. I can spot one missing cutting off of a 6-foot shrub at 100 paces, so don’t even try. We addicts can become highly irrational when our babies are threatened–or worse, dismembered. Highly irrational.

And if you want to know what something is, ask me. Take me over to the plant and ask me. More than likely you will wish you had not asked, after a 15-minute diatribe on its finest points and the fact that I have done so incredibly well with it because, really, it’s a bitch to grow. Do not, however, break off a piece of it and carry it up to me for its proper identification. Remember, you’ve already been warned–highly irrational–totally unpredictable behavior when an addict is approached with a severed piece of one of his (or her) prize possessions. How would you feel if someone asked you which one of your children this belonged to and held up a foot? Well? Hmmmmm??? Highly irrational.

I know there are hundreds, even thousands of you out there. We’re all in the same boat, really–we gardeners. It starts out very innocently and before you know it your kids are eating cold cereal for dinner because mommy is in the garden until dark every night. Sometimes mommy is in the garden until after dark, having moved from the darker parts of the garden to the bed under the streetlight where there is enough light to continue weeding. You know it’s true. I say stand up and embrace your demons! “Hi. I’m Troy and I’m a……..” Gardening is such good therapy!

Begonias Aren't Just Bedding Plants

(Originally posted January 3, 2008)

Funny, in the plant world, how one genus can hold some of the most beloved and reviled plants in a single embrace. Begonias are an excellent case in point. If I never saw another “bedding begonia”, aka Begonia semperflorens it would not hurt my feelings. I would not, for one minute, miss them. Ever. You know the ones I’m talking about–planted en masse at the entrance to every apartment complex and shopping center in North America during the summer months–little round “wads” of plant material, crispy around the edges from lack of water or rotting out in the center because the irrigation system continued to run 3 times a day during a solid week of rain in mid-June. And of course they’ve been bred to the point that they are totally without character, each one the same size, the same shape, the same habit–lined up like soldiers in marching formation.

At the opposite end of the spectrum are some truly amazing and beautiful plants–begonias with character. Begonias with big leaves, small leaves, fuzzy leaves, smooth leaves, green leaves, black leaves, leaves that are variegated in a near-rainbow of shimmering, shining and sometimes even metallic color. There are begonias that are only a few inches tall when they reach maturity and begonias that can measure FEET in diameter when they’re well grown. There are even a few that are pushing the boundaries of the hardiness zones and reports of gardeners in Zone 7 and even in Zone 6 who are having success with some of the newer “perennial” types. Several breeders are now working on introducing plants with increased cold hardiness.

Recently, I entered into my “begonia phase”. You know how we are as gardeners–always interested in a vast array of plants of all kinds, but typically with one group taking center stage for a period of time. I’ve been through what seems like a million “phases” in my gardening lifetime and I’ve found that once I get into a particular phase, I never really leave it. I collect until I have a nice supply of plants built up and even though my attention may eventually turn in a slightly different direction, I still add to my previous plant collections from time to time. This is what sets the true “plant nerds” apart from the rest. We never stop. So…my latest “phase” is the “begonia phase”. I’ve already been through the “conifer phase”, the “elephant ear phase”, the “canna phase”, the “dahlia phase”, the “daylily phase” and on and on ad nauseum. A great many of these plants are still with me. Some of have been narrowed down to the very best of the bunch–the ones that perform grandly in the garden every season with the less-than-ideal care that they often receive–but they’re still there. I’m not sure I’ve ever left a “phase” entirely.

So now it’s begonias. But it’s not just ANY begonias that I’m interested in for the current phase. I’ve narrowed it down to some that I can grow particularly well indoors as houseplants during the winter and who thrive outdoors on the screen porch during the summer. Oddly enough, most of them are NOT the flashy “rex” begonias that are so commonly found in garden centers. I don’t do as well with those for some reason. The begonias that have gotten my attention of late are actually species–specifically rhizomatous and fibrous-rooted species, with the fibrous-rooted types taking more precedence. I find that most of the fibrous-rooted species have a better habit–clumping rather than creeping–and that they don’t develop the naked centers that many of my rhizomatous types do as they creep across the surface of the soil. The fibrous-rooted clumpers also tend to stand more upright in their pots and they don’t flop, creep and crawl all over their neighbors.

There are a few species that I have become particularly fond of and that have proven to be tough, resilient, beautiful plants year round with what seems to be a modicum of care. One of these is Begonia nelumbifolia, which, as the name suggests has beautiful, slightly cupped leaves with the stem attached to the leaf at a “center point” as you would see on a lotus. The color is a bright, apple green and during the short days of winter and early spring you may even get a nice show of small, light pink flowers. It also grows to a nice, manageable size for indoors, perhaps 12-15″ tall and 18 inches or so across. A nice coffee table plant in a brightly lit room
Another favorite, though larger and requiring a bit more space, is Begonia popenoei. Its leaves are large–on a well-grown specimen maybe nearing a foot in length from the tip of the leaf to the opposite end. It has a dense, shrub-like habit and is nicely upright. Even so, a happy plant may reach 2 feet tall x 3 feet wide and perhaps more. I have several friends who have used it to spectacular effect outdoors in the shade garden, planted directly in the ground during the summer months where it can reach astounding proportions. It gives the effect of a big, fuzzy-leaved hosta! Then in the fall they dig it, pot it and bring it in to a brightly lit room for the winter where it provides beauty throughout the cold months of the year.

For those of you having a very limited amount of space, not all begonias are giants (though alot of my personal favorites are!). I have fallen in love with the diminutive Begonia coriacea whose mature height is about 6 inches tall, with a spread of perhaps 8-10 inches. Its 2-inch wide leaves are deep olive green and are attached at a center point, much like Begonia nelumbifolia, described above. One of the best attributes of this plant is that during the short days of winter and early spring, it will cover itself in clusters of small, fleshy pink to white flowers for at least two months and sometimes longer.

Another small begonia that I simply adore is Begonia x partita. This is technically a fibrous-rooted begonia, but grows on stems similar to some of the “cane” or “angelwing” types. The stems are thick and swollen–extremely fleshy and succulent–and grow in a somewhat gnarled and almost stunted fashion. This growth habit makes it the perfect subject for turning into a beautiful tropical bonsai. In no time, you can create a small, dense “tree” with a thickened trunk, fat stubby branches, and tiny palmate leaves that look almost like a miniature maple. In addition, during the summer months it will bear multitudes of small, pale pink to white flowers. It really is a little stunner.

Others that I have grown extremely fond of include Begonia macdougallii var. purpurea, a magnificent and fairly large grower with compound leaves that look like those of a Schefflera. The leaves are deep dark green with a purplish-red underside. This is another excellent choice for the shade garden during the summer months where it can truly shine and reach its full, magnificent size. It can also be dug and brought in for the winter and will perform very well as a houseplant. And a new introduction from my buddy Dan Heims at Terra Nova Nurseries called ‘Cathedral Windows’ enjoys a prominent position above my desk where the light from a nearby window can shine through its beautiful leaves. ‘Cathedral Windows’ is a variation on the old-fashioned “beefsteak” begonia with a lighter green and somewhat crested center to each leaf. When the sun shines through from front to back it looks like the stained glass in a cathedral window. And for all intensive purposes it seems to be just as easy to grow as its old-fashioned counterpart!

As far as culture is concerned, the most important thing to remember about the rhizomatous and fibrous-rooted begonias is that they will not tolerate being over-watered. So for those of you who have trouble remembering to water your houseplants, these are the perfect plants for you. Their succulent nature allows them to be very forgiving and in fact, they PREFER to be on the dry side. Overwatering will kill them in short order! They also love to grow in the lightweight, peaty potting mixes that are so popular on the market now. One word of caution: I would avoid the potting mixes that have the water retention crystals in them. They stay too wet and unless you can exercise an extreme amount of self-discipline and lay off of the watering for weeks at a time (especially during the winter months), you’ll drown your begonias in no time flat. For light, bright indirect light is perfect. In a very well-lit and open house, they’ll thrive even without being directly in front of a window. In more closed floor plans with less ambient light, some direct light from a nearby window is beneficial and even a southern exposure will work provided the plants don’t get the direct, mid-day summer sun. Direct sun in the winter is fine.

I feed my plants once a month with a good, organic, water soluble fertilizer–fish emulsion works well, as do others. Just ask at your local, independently owned garden center what they carry along those lines for houseplants. African violet fertilizer works well, too. One last tidbit: I have now transplanted all of my begonias into clay pots. They seem to thrive in pots that have the ability to breathe. Also, the soil in a clay pot dries out faster (beacuse the pot breathes) and if you should get a bit heavy handed with the watering this will help rectify the problem.
So there you have it–my latest “phase”. Who knows what will strike me next, but for right now these begonias seem to have my undivided attention. If you decide to check them out, be careful. Next thing you know you’ll be pushing other plants aside to make way for you newest and latest additions!

Thanksgiving Cactus vs. Christmas Cactus

(Originally posted December 19, 2007)

“Is there a difference?”, you may ask. Yes, there is–and it’s one of my biggest holiday pet peeves, horticulturally speaking!

With today’s mass market mentality and the ease of growth of the “Holiday Cactus”, one group of hybrids has essentially taken over the holiday market. However, the truth of the matter is that the plant that begins showing up on garden center shelves about a week or so before Thanksgiving and continues its run right on through the holidays is actually the “Thanksgiving Cactus”, or Schlumbergera truncata aka Zygocactus hybrids (also known as the Crab Claw Cactus because of its pointed lobes). This species has been readily hybridized to grow easily, flower profusely and offer blossoms in a veritable rainbow of colors, so naturally it has taken its place in greenhouses around the world as THE holiday cactus. However, there is another cactus whose beauty time has forgotten.

Schlumbergera bridgesii is the TRUE “Christmas cactus” and is the plant that my grandmother had an enormous specimen of that must have been 30 years old or so when I was just a child. Oh, how I wish I still had that beautiful, beautiful plant! I’m not sure what happened to it, but at some point it was no longer with us. Today, you can’t even find S. bridgesii except through specialty growers and mailorder catalogs. It has essentially disappeared from the mainstream market.

So what IS the difference? Well, for me it probably has a little bit to do with nostalgia and my memories of my grandmother’s plant in full bloom in the deep-seated living room window every Christmas. Grandma’s house was built of stone, with solid block walls nearly 2 feet thick. The window sills were the depth of the walls and one side of that Christmas cactus filled the entire depth of one window while the other half hung out into the living room. It must have been 3 feet wide. But the real difference, botanically speaking, is that Schlumbergera bridgesii or what I refer to as the “true” Christmas cactus, has rounded lobes on its leaves rather than the pointed, claw-like lobes of the cactus we commonly see being sold during the holidays.

Also, Schlumbergera bridgesii comes in but one color–Christmas red (referred to as cerise in some books). It also has a naturally delayed flowering period that pushes it back to the season of Christmas. Rarely, if ever, does it flower at Thanksgiving. As if that wasn’t enough distinguishing characteristics, its flowers are also shaped differently–without the reflexing petals and one sided flowers of Schlumbergera truncata, the Thanksgiving or “Holiday” cactus. Instead, the flowers of the true Christmas cactus have petals that are evenly distributed around the flower tube.

I can remember Granny’s huge specimen having literally hundreds of beautiful red blossoms on it each year! It would summer outdoors in the shade of the screen porch, go upstairs when the weather turned cold and then come back down to the living room during Christmas where it greeted visitors from its perch in the window. It had grown so large and so old that it had a trunk on it whose base was probably a good three inches in diameter, with several 1 to 1 1/2-inch diameter branches emerging from it, each of those in turn cascading out to form the “canopy” of the plant. The brilliant red blossoms were borne at the ends of the flattened stems (called cladophylls) and hung downward, giving a magnificent cascading effect to the plant.

The plants you buy today are manipulated in the greenhouse to flower at a certain time by adjusting the amount of day and night that they are exposed to–just like poinsettias. And because all of the hybrids have been bred to be compact, easy-to-flower and to come in a wide array of colors, the Thanksgiving Cactus (Schlumbergera truncata or Zygocactus) has become the industry standard. However, I would recommend to you that you do a little research and find a source, even if it’s mail-order and you can only find small plants, for the “true” Christmas cactus, Schlumbergera bridgesii. It will be well worth your effort!