Christmas Cactus

Zygocactus

A glorious bloom worth waiting for.

This cactus lived outside all summer. I watered it against the drought. It seemed to thrive in the dry heat. It began to show some buds which is odd. I had thought it wouldn't bloom until it had been through a dry and dark four weeks followed by light and watering.

I have counted forty-five buds and blossoms on this Zygocactus plant. Unlike a cactus, this plant produces no prickles or spines.

The white booms are elegant. The buds are long and fat and then gradually fold petals back like fairy wings until the stigma and stamens are revealed. I love how the magenta color edges the opening in the flower.

The blooms almost appear to be flying free of the plant, like little white birds, only attached by a light green stem.  This is how the "zygo" gets in the name. The blooms sprout from the ends of the leaves which support them. "Zygo" means yoke or joining.