@getgoing100_7b_nj Oh, yay! It sounds like you’re about to enjoy the beauty of spring a little early - share some bits of it with us, too, pretty please.

Last August, I’ve received a whole bunch of pelargonium cuttings and a couple of hardy geraniums, and I must say I’m quite obsessed with the scent of the hardy geranium leaves - I literally just cannot stop smelling them. Here’s one that I’m talking about:

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Shiraplants, I love your streptocarpus and gloxinias.

@getgoing100_7b_nj how amazing is it that you were able to get petunias and roses to flower indoors. They all look so delightful! Oh, the perks of having a sun-drenched home...

green-vibes, I actually don't get much sun. Two east facing windows, 1 south east, rest (dozen or so) all north! I make the most of the south eat window by having three glass shelves hanging in, besides windowsill and a handcrafted bench right next to the sill. Still, that window gets only 4-5 hours of sun (when it shows up that is). I also have led grow light bulbs and strips to supplement the light for another 7-8 hours. with the cost of grow lights and running them hitting rock bottom with LEDs, I see no reason to suffer through dark and dreary winters when I can easily have a cheerful garden indoors. I am beginning to look at these flowers as perennials (which they are in there native lands). :)

@getgoing100_7b_nj Brilliant. :)

Hi All, it all depends on where you live. If you live in the south USA, you have lots of sun. If you live in North Dakota, not so much.

Just saying,

Yolanda

That's very true, @YOLANDA.

Taken just minutes ago:

Such beauties. Could you please identify them for those not that familiar with succulents (me included).

@tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a) What is that beauty called??

The blooming plant, so far, is a NOID. The twins on the left are Aeonium arboreum 'Zwartkop', for which there are several common names.

Al

@tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a), They look surreal.

Not the prettiest blooms in town but my parlor palm is having an epic blooming season. Three spikes have unfurled and four more are in the works. Not yet in bloom but almost ready.

@getgoing100_7b_nj Three blooms and four more on the way!? That's impressive. Hmm, I may need to have a talk with my parlor palm.

I have other things blooming, but these miniature sinningias are the cutest, such tiny plants but relatively large flowers.

@dbarron, they are adorable!

They sure are. Greenvibes, don't be too harsh on your plam, mine are right next to a humidifier, which is probably helping with the blooms.

@getgoing100_7b_nj The humidity in the room it's in fluctuates between 60-75%; being a much younger palm than yours, I guess I'll forgive him for now...

Green vibes & Beesneeds, I just got 2 Christmas cactus this year. I love that you listed the botanical name! True, they are technically Thanksgiving C. But Christmas Cactus sounds better, even though they are not cactus.

I bought four, two for gifts. They were grown in PA and shipped to CA. The two I kept did not fully bloom.

A few of my AVs always bloom out of season, in December. I have no idea why. I live in California. Joanne

Joanne@fortyseven_gw, yay for your AVs flowering right now – they’re among my favs, so I’d love to see a picture of yours. I propagated about 10 AVs this summer, and they have yet to flower. One in particular, Ian Bokal, I’m really looking forward to seeing it in full bloom, but I’m afraid that won’t happen any time soon. In the meantime however, I could delight myself with yours… ;)

Aren’t Holiday Cacti the best? They're actually my number one plant. Mine’s a true Christmas Cactus (S. x buckleyi). If you bought yours from a store, it most likely is a Thanksgiving Cactus (S. truncata). The advantage of the TC is that its blooms are of varied colors (I’d love to find a yellow one!), whereas CC only has dark pink/red blooms – I love them both just the same. They are cacti, but tropical forest-kind, not desert-dwelling, so they obviously appreciate humidity.

Al,

Isn't that lovely bloomer of yours an Aloe variegata (Tiger Aloe)? I knew those 2 long stemmed companions in the pot weren't Aloes.

Hi, Green vibes,

That is nice you are propagating AVs. Mine used to take at least 9 months from leaf to bloom.

Yes, my Thanksgiving store-bought plants are what you i.d.'d them as above. It is nice to know they are your favorites.

I wonder if I should feed mine or wait a few months? Usually, new plants do not need fertilizer. Just water.

They were bought in November. The store had red or pink. I bought the red because it is the plant's natural color and is bright.

African Violets cannot duplicate brilliant red.

The shape of the flowers on the "cactus" is fun. So are the leaves.

I live in California, the majority of plants sold at my local large chain grocery store are almost always grown in California or sometimes Central America. Therefore, I was surprised to read that the plants were grown in PA. They did not do well, the buds never opened. Probably because they could not adapt from PA to CA.

The leaves are still delightful.

I have seen them in stores in yellow also.

Someday I will get a true Christmas cactus.

I have kalanchoe outdoors that are doing fine and reblooming. I got red and salmon. Again, fun colors that AVs cannot achieve.

My AVs are locally hybridized and grown. They are not too "photogenic" because I bought them for growth potential. I deliberately let them develop large leaves and now they need grooming. One has double blossoms of different colors. Some are violet. Others are white, others are two-tone. That is not unusual for an AV to not be stable and revert to one or another of its DNA genetic parents, especially in winter.

The others are fluffy deep pink doubles with ruffled darker pink edges. They are the kind "only a mother could love" because I let the leaves grow large.

I got the plants to experiment and see which ones would survive the winter and come back again.

AV hybridizers have mastered every shade of pink. But a true red is not genetically possible. Some reds do come very close.

Joanne

Hi Joanne @fortyseven_gw, I agree with that new plants don't need fertilizer. I only feed my CC in spring or summer, when I re-pot it - I give it some compost from a pile that has maturated well over winter. Mine isn't putting out a lot of blooms this year either; it might have something to do with the fact that it took a hit last spring when I kicked it out a little early, while temps were still dipping into freezing.

Another mini-sin came into bloom today. I wish I could remember what color the other two are (lol), guess I'll see in a week or two.

Nice colors, dbarron! Where do you get these from?

Green Vibes. The label on the plant says Zygos Cactus.

These were bought at Daves Violets in Springfield Mo, yes, he does ship and has a rather primitive website.

Green Vibes, I found an identical Zygos Cactus grown in southern Calif. It is also labelled as a Christmas Cactus. It is at least triple the size of the others I got in smaller pots that were grown in PA.

Can the leaves be rooted in water or potting mix? A few leaf braches broke off. One has two leaf segments. The other has 3 with a bloom. Thanks, Joanne

I got a couple of Thanksgiving cactus too. One is a hot pink and the other was red with fuschia outer

Outer sepals/petals, much like bicolor fuschia flowers except the zygo have white hues mixed with the red or pink. I saw peach/yellow ones too but didn't fancy them much. Both were in bud when I got them. The red bloomed well but the pink dropped all but one bud. I thought it was dehydrated so watered it and apparently too much water is what caused the bud drop
Anyhow, they are now in a cooler room and hopefully will set buds again. I did find a few broken segments. I first buried the ends in the potting mix but it didn't really take in a couple of weeks. I then put the segments in water and at least one of them already grew roots in a week or so. So, Joanne, I would recommend rooting in water.

Here they are

Thanks Dave. I will have a look at the website.

Sorry, thanks dbarron

Joanne @fortyseven_gw, I’m not a big fan of water propagation. The way I’ve been rooting my CC is by sticking the broken stem segments in potting mix, right next to the mother-plant; easy-peasy, and with 100% success rate. I see that @getgoing100_7b_nj succeeded using the water method, so it really seems to come down to personal preference.

Joanne @fortyseven_gw IIRC, and someone please correct me if I'm wrong, Zygocactus is the old name, which is no longer used. The current name is Schlumbergera. You most likely have a Schlumbergera truncata.

I agree with you based on your knowledge and research on the internet when I first got them in November. For commercial purposes, the old names are easier for marketing the plants.

Sort of like "african violets," which are gesneriads. Thanks, joanne

I meant, the commercial wholesalers probably keep the old names because "Christmas Cactus" is easier. The tag gave a fairly long blooming season in the fall through winter. Joanne

GV thanks for photos. Gorgeous!

I meant, GG, thanks for photos!

GG I saw the pink ones, too, in a store. They looked as you described and blooms looked dehydrated and dropped. In the store. The red looks more "organic" or original.

Gv, because these are seasonal and a novelty item, displayed with other seasonal red flowering plants in the store, they probably sell better with a novelty name. Maybe if I went to a nursery, they might be properly labelled. Joanne

DB, at least Dave's V is still around. I have been able to get locally grown NOID hybrids, so my "mail order" and "ebay" buying days are over! Joanne

And here's the next to last, in a day or two I'll have the last open (I want to think it's a salmon with lots of orange in it), but here's another purple (quite long tubed)

Just a little plectranthus’Mona Lavender’ cutting visiting with a blooming Tillandsia

Ok, the finale of the mini-sins. I thought it was orange, but I guess I didn't buy the orange. This is deeper purple than it photographs...

@Andrea ME z5b, @dbarron, lovely blooms!

Ti plant for first time ever

Jewel orchid is fairly regular in its blooming cycles

my own seed grown begonia maculata

and blooms on a few canes

Sansevieria cylindrica is blooming again

hc mcdole you have beautiful collection.