Over a year ago I posted about the Christmas Cactus I got from my Grammie when she died six years ago. I'm happy to report that despite my "black thumb", it is still alive and well. In fact, it started blooming around Thanksgiving and has had at least one bud or flower at a time from then until now--and I'm hoping it'll keep blooming until Easter (three weeks to go)! I love the symbolism of the Christmas Cactus blooming with new life between Christmas and Easter, which reminds me of the new life we can have because of Jesus Christ.
In 2007, when the plant was looking pretty sad, I asked my Mother-in-law for advice to nurse it back to health. She gave me some tips and also suggested I cut off one of the healthy shoots and plant it, so that if the big one died I would still have something from Grammie's plant. She had me break off a good section and just stick it in a pot of dirt. I was doubtful, to say the least. Without roots, how would it grow? I thought for sure it would shrivel up and die, but I faithfully watered it and kept it by a window, just in case she knew what she was talking about.
Fast forward about 2 years, and look at my baby Christmas Cactus now! It bloomed for the first time! I'm so excited that I want to cut off several more shoots to start in pots so that each of my girls can have a part of their Great-Grammie's Christmas Cactus when they are ready to be on their own. They won't have the same memories of it as I do, since they never knew their Great-Grammie, but I will tell them stories, and hopefully they'll have memories of their own of growing up with this giant Christmas Cactus. It'll be a little slice of home for them, and hopefully when it blooms each Christmas and Easter, it'll be a reminder to them of God's faithfulness to us and Christ's sacrifice for us. And hopefully we'll all be able to keep Grammie's Christmas Cactus alive for many years to come. :-)P.S. Does anyone have easy tips for how to keep a Christmas Cactus dusted?
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3 comments:
No ideas on the dusting--can you spray it w/ the "air" that you'd spray a keyboard?
But so cool that it's been revived!!!
What a sweet memory for you & hopefully your girls!
I sorta have the same with a large fern, but it resides at my mom's house for various reasons now.
My mom also has a Christmas cactus & she sprays it with a water bottle - the light mist is perfect amount of water & takes care of the dust with any chemicals or harm done to the plant.
What a great way to pass down Grammie's memory and foster a love of plants at the same time.
I'd take them outside and spray the tops with a hose every once in a while. That should remove some dust. :)
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