Janice - I love all the holiday cactus! Below are a couple of websites that I like to browse. I wish you luck in identifying the varieties. There are so many and it is difficult to identify by bloom color because the blooms can vary with temperature. If you find a trick, let me know because I have four NOIDs which I would love to find names. I would love to see some pics of the ones you have. I cannot get enough of looking at photos.

http://www.mattslandscape.com/schlumbergera/

http://cactus.biology.dal.ca/paulS/christmas/christmas.html

There is another one that has lots of pictures (the most I have seen) but I can not remember the name. I will try to find it.

Found it! This website has tons of pictures and information about the history and varieties of Schlumbergera.

http://cactus-epiphytes.eu/z_page_les__cactus_de_noel_2.htm

For Thor varieties (there are a few that I can no longer find in the lists, like Thor Alex):

http://www.greenex.com/flowering-plants/schlumbergera-hybr/

http://www.thoruplund.dk/index.php?page=galleri-schlum-2

I would like to find a list with photos for the Dancer series and the Brazil series.

Hello! You both sound like the Christmas cactus experts, so I am going to beg for some advice. I just posted this question, but I'll paste it below. If anyone can help me, I'd be so grateful. I can't believe how much this little plant means to me! ........

I had/have a Christmas that was my grandma's and someone (roommate�s stupid mother) over-watered it, causing it to drop leaves, wilt, the main stems rotted; the poor thing was just sick. I was SO mad and just about cried. This was about two months ago.
Well, I took several cuttings, let them dry for a night, and potted them in a fast draining soil, have kept the soil fairly dry on the top inch or so, have been misting the cuttings on top. I put them in two separate pots. One pot has a few cuttings that have started to turn dark green close to the soil, so they look like they may not make it. The other pot�s cuttings look a bit plumper and are a medium green, not as green as when it was a healthy plant though. A couple of those cuttings have a bit of dried brown edge on the leaves. I haven't seen any sign of growth on any of them, but they haven't "died." They are a little wilted, but still green and not drying up completely.

I have been babying these things! I just don't know what to expect as far as appearance and growth time/amount. Does this sound normal? Should I keep fighting for these little things, or does it sound like a lost cause?

I lost my grandma, who was my best friend, about a year ago and it will just about kill me to lose her cactus!

Pardon me, but stop babying them & just leave them alone, what they need is TIME to make new growth w/out being nurtured to death. Sorry for the loss of your Grandma.

Hi there
Here is 1 site that will keep you busy for awhile LOL
Its a private collection w/lots of info and pics
http://cactus-epiphytes.eu/z_index.htm
will put some more links over the weekend
and Mattslandscape is great too he really puts the most info on each plant he has
cliff

Janice, would you please post some pictures of your oldest plants?!! I have never had the privilege of seeing Schlumbergeras quite as old as yours!
Thanks.
Lena

If we're talking that many varieties, we're most likely talking about Thanksgiving Cactus...not Christmas Cactus. This page will elaborate on the differences between these holiday cacti, but doesn't have information on the differently colored Thanksgiving Cacti.

RECOGNITION and CULTURE
of the HOLIDAY CACTI

Josh

Here is another photo of one of my older plants. This one has also been around my house many years. I have always referred to it as my "almost white" plant. As you can see it tends to have a pink hue in the bloom, they are also the longest blooms I have ever seen. They come in at 3 inches in length.
Someone mentioned that you have to bring in the white ones once the bloom is forming so it stays white. I knew that is the case with the yellow ones but did not know about the white. I just recently purchased "White Christmas" as I really do want an all white one.
On the other end of the spectrum I have a "hot pink" bloom that does not quite make the 2 inch mark. It looks very stubby but the color is great.

Those cactus you have pictured are Thanksgiving cactus

If you're on facebook, there are a few Schlumbergera groups where they sometimes can ID things. :)

Here is a photo of another one of my very old cactus. The lady who gave me a piece said she thought it was from the 1870's or there about. This is also a plant handed down through the years. I had always thought that the oldest cactus were all red, but there is also an old white called Alba. This silly one bloomed for me in the summer several years ago, and finally this year it has buds in time for Thanksgiving.

Val,

Now Im just learning to tell the difference in true Christmas Cactus and Thanksgiving. And many others
like Josh are must better at telling but I think your last one is actually a True Christmas Cactus that is no longer being reproduced commercially.

Some of the others wll confirm. But it does look like it to me. All your plants are beautiful. You certainly have growing them down pat if you had them this many years. Great work!

Teisa

Teisa - I think you have mixed me up with Janice. I do agree that her last one looks like a true Christmas Cactus.

Janice - Love the color of the blooms on your Christmas Cactus. Mine is more of a hot pink with a touch of red.
{{gwi:116462}}
{{gwi:116463}}

Val-- I love it! Mine had an accident and then I accidentally put the broken pieces in some soil of death that I thought I had tossed. I realized it just as there were only stumps, and now it's regrowing. No big deal since it's making it, but I want to find some pics from previous years so I can try to ID my x buckleyii that is fuchsia.

Yep, the recent plants posted are Christmas Cactus. Symmetrical flowers, smooth leaf margins.

Josh

Very Nice Val!

Teisa, I wonder why they don't sell Christmas Cactus commercially if they stopped.

Hong

Hong-- I've heard (so this is anecdotal) that it has to do with them blooming later and thus being after the holiday marketing time.

Val-- yours is different than mine-- I found an old pic.

Julianna - Your blooms do appear to be lighter in color than mine. When I first purchased it two years ago, it had one bloom. It looks a little lighter in color than last year's. It is starting to bloom now and I will get another photo.

First year{{gwi:695278}}

Second year{{gwi:695280}}

It could be cultural difference. The blooms that formed in this photo were in a Victorian bungalow we were renting-- drafts like crazy, and the whole place was pretty cool temperature-wise. Your first pic resembles mine much more. So maybe it's just the temp thing? I know there are some though that have a solid magenta coloration no matter what.

Oh, I see. Would love to add CC to my collection if any of you are sharing cuttings. Thanks

Hong-- I may be able to do that. I know you have some TG cactus, right? Maybe we could trade? I'll know if I have enough x buckleyi by mid-December. I don't know if you want to remind me or if you want to start a message with me and we can talk :)

Hopefully, I will have cuttings of both my Christmas Cactus and some of my Thanksgiving Cactus in the spring. I would love to trade for other Christmas Cactus, Thanksgiving Cactus and other plants that I am interested in trying (like hoyas).

Val-- I know we had a trade set up for the spring, and I didn't know if you wanted me to add this CC to it as a potential member of the trade. I've made an email draft for myself of my Schlum trades, and notes on them for what date to resurrect the trade/contact and what we talked about trading lol.

Julianna - If you would like some cuttings of my Christmas Cactus that is fine with me. We will work out the trade in the spring. I love trading plants. That is how I got almost all of my daylilies and iris.

Val-- Sounds great! I've updated my trade note :)

I thought a Christmas Cactus was what I had. I've never heard of a Thanksgiving Cactus or a Holiday Cactus until now. Can someone please enlighten me on the differences between the three? Thanks.

Hi Cadence,

Pls. see post of Nov. 23rd, by Josh (w/ the link as worded below) for the link: My copying it here didn't work. This is the one that explains it all.

RECOGNITION and CULTURE
of the HOLIDAY CACTI