Blooms have opened on this one:


Buds, but no open blooms yet on this one:

OMG your little owl planter is precious! Plants look great too!

Thanks Julianna ... that terra cotta owl pot was a gift from my sister years ago! It has no drainage so I just use it as a decorative cache pot for my plants.

Lin, Hemigraphis looks awesome too!!

Sat this on the coffee table to take its' pic. The pink started opening today.

Tiffany: That is cool looking with both colors planted together.

TY, Lin! There's 3 separate plants in there, but 2 of them may be the same reddish color. The buds on the 3rd one look strange I decided today.

Any ideas why? The first plant to bloom (red) was added about a month ago. The other two have been in this basket together since March. There's a normal pink flower on another plant just opening, and a normal looking bud on the plant in question to the left at the top, then the other buds in the pic are funky-looking, I think? Whatever dust or sand that was on the one leaf (the white spots I didn't notice on the plant but see in the pic) seems to have blown off of the plant in the wind today. It's outside @ the moment. I can't see any aphids or anything critter-like on the plants or buds.

Tiffany, I will be curious to hear what those buds do ... they look like they are drying up but I don't know anything about holiday cactus so I don't know what would cause the funky buds ... maybe a sudden change in temperature or humidity?

It absolutely amazes me you all have these wonderful plants and none have names. Here I am worrying when I loose a tag thinking how will I ever sell a plant I do not know what it is, and yet Home Depot, Lowes and many of the markets that sell plants bother to ID houseplants, especially Christmas or Holiday Cactus. I wonder why?

As a seller with actual named plants I imagine it's a huge worry when tags are lost. Mine are all the "Heinz 57" variety of holiday cactus, I don't have any special cultivars. I know there are many named hybrids on the market but I've never seen the big box stores carry actual named varieties. I think a lot of the nurseries mass produce them from cuttings for the holiday trade. I know there are many serious collectors who want only named cultivars but lots of folks purchase them for the color that happens to catch their eye and don't worry about whether they are named or not. A lot of folks purchase them from the big box stores for temporary holiday decoration just like with Poinsettias and Cyclamen.

so sad but ture, most people buy, plants bloom, plants loose blooms then get tossed . At least at Lowes, they discount them very low. Like 50 cents or a dollar. It's them up to us to get them back in shape for next season. Those same people say 'Don't give me a plant because I kill them'. Bull ***** They don't really want to fuss with them.

!!! The one that I have was given to me as a cutting. I have no idea what it is. But is is beginning to bloom for me. Happy, happy, happy!

If one knows the names of their plants, they can buy different ones *for sure* at any time of year. If one knows the names of the ones they saw that they want, they could purchase them w/o blooms on. The names allow folks to find pics of what the blooms should look like. That would probably be the smart thing to do since the deflated demand while not blooming may cause a lower price. Aside from private sellers though, I don't know where one would purchase a 'holiday cactus' since they only have them in stores during the holidays. As said, if one wants to collect names, private sellers are about the only option for most.

I don't buy names, I buy plants I like that look different from the ones I already have, or more of the same if they're not propagating as fast as I *need* more of them. Nothing wrong with names, which positively ID a unique individual, and give the proper credit to the person who 'created' it (and some of them are a lot of fun to say!) I doubt many people have room for more than one of each color they like, regardless of name. Like one red one, a white one, an orange one... if I see 7 different looking ones, I want 7 plants. If I see 62 definitely different ones, I'd want 62. I hope this doesn't read as snarky, which I don't intend at all, just the ramblings of one plant-o-phile to answer a question asked.

LOL, I remember one time I had @ a dozen of non-named dark pink holiday cactus ... they sure looked great all massed together, what a pop of color!

When I began to grow Schlumbergera I had no idea so many people did collect these wonderful plants. I soon learned when I began putting up my starter plants for sale. I soon learned that if I did not know what it was, how was I going to sell it? It really depends on the person buying them. I have this crazy business where these plants sell year round and I usually stop selling around this time of year because I am either sold out, or the weather gets too cold to ship. As soon as the stock plants I have are finished blooming in January or February I begin to cut again for the coming year. There are so many serious buyers out there I have to keep on my toes if I want to keep up with the other sellers who have collectors as customers. The collectors do not care if the plant is small, but it must be identified and it must be what you say it is or you can get into real trouble. I can not tell you how overwhelmed I was when I first realized I had so much to learn just to get my plants moving. It is fun and interesting or I would not continue to do it. I also have met so many interesting people who are as serious about collecting these plants as others are collecting coins etc.

Whatever we like or whatever we buy is no problem as far as I am concerned. My concern would be if no one liked these plants and had no interest in them. Then I would worry. Have a good evening and tell your plants you love them, no matter "who" they are!

Good morning, JB!

I bet you ARE busy this time of year!!

My CC's are all done blooming now. Will mail you starts from the "Pretty Pink" (the name I
decided to call these) beg. of next week. Will let you know on D-mail.

I just posted on the AV Forum here too. Trying out "the waters"...

My "Pretty Pink" CC. LOVE, LOVE these! Gita

LOL, Lin, IKR! I too need many more than one 'pink.' We're not most people, especially if what they say about most of the BBS ones being discarded when they finish blooming, like Poinsettias, is true. The two I got this year already blooming aren't 'my blooms' until next year (in my own mind) and may be the same as ones I already have, IDK.

Jacquie, more power to you (and those who 'need' the plants you have!) That sounds like awesome fun. If I was going to collect a ton of named plants, it would most likely be TCs/CCs. If I was going to try a plant business, same thing. So nobody online wants a plant that's just 'red' or 'yellow?' I did not know that, or even that there was a 'big thing' about named Schlums. I know folks get into that with Hostas or daylilies and as you well know, Coleus. What I need to know is where they put them all?! Wouldn't it be fun to have a greenhouse full of them, blooming in all different colors? Oh wait, I think you already do, but it's only a fantasy for me. Well hey, if we're fantasizing, let's go conservtory, right? Greenhouse is so... rustic and disconnected?

So now I'm curious after all this, do most of the plants in BBS really have cultivar names that are just missing - or is there a 'mutt' class of plants w/o names?

Here's the one I've showed before, just took this pic.


This other pot started blooming today. I can't tell if the pink ones in diff pots are exactly the same or not.

Morning ladies.....Welcome to ATP Gita.
I am so glad to see you here. Please show these ladies some of your unnamed plants.

Tif, Lin, Tara et al....Gita is new and trying to find her way around... you will love her collection of unnamed cactus. She sends me the most beautiful cuttings and I sell them as Gita's Garden Collection. Of course the "real" collectors do not buy them but the people who just want beautiful colors just love them. She has several salmon and a fabulous pink and one we call the "snitched red" that I had a man in the greenhouse the other day insisted I sell him my only cutting which I must take a shot of today and show you guys. Of course I said NO. He actually had it in his hand. He is a Christmas Tree customer who always likes to look in the GH when he comes for his tree. My greenhouse is off limits to the public because of just that reason. They want my stock plants that I am just getting going in the GH. Gita's are really pretty and I am sure she will share them with us by photo if she has the time and can find us again.
I think I told you before, if I have any particular colors you all like and I have cuttings available, you know I will trade with you. After the Holidays I will start to send more pics.
I am off to the GH now to complete my search for slugs....they are making me crazy. Did I tell you about my beer traps for the slugs? A tiny toad was sitting in the one trap up to his neck in beer (Bud Light) and he could not move. I finally got him out of there and he could not hop. He was alive and slightly drunky I am sure. I got hysterical laughing all by myself ...the thought of a drunk toad just sent me over the edge. See you all later. Gita, come back soon those pinks make me crazy you know that. I want .....big time.

JB,
Love your story. Maybe Budweiser will make a commercial out of this. Remember their bull frog one. One would say 'Bud', then the other 'wis' then one to finish it 'er'. Good one. Don't drink and hop.

Welcome, Gita!

Hey, I never thought of that....I could have made some money making a commercial if I would have taken his picture. Dern it. Missed a great opportunity to get rich.