GARDEN CAPSULE

The challenge: Your Christmas cactus seems to have its holidays mixed up, blooming at Thanksgiving instead.

The solution: For a clue of when to expect blooms, examine the plant’s leaf-like stems. If the edges have pointed projections, your holiday houseplant is an earlier-blooming Thanksgiving cactus. The stem edges of a Christmas cactus, notably different, are rounded or scalloped. The leaf-like stems of this holiday cactus have pointed projections, your clue to expect flowering to begin closer to Thanksgiving than to Christmas.

Pluses: Thanks to the many hybrids available, you can buy holiday cacti that have flowers not only in the usual pink or red, but also purple, pure white and bicolors.

With bright but indirect light, good soil drainage and cool nighttime temperatures, a holiday cactus is easy to grow and can be long-lived. Stem segments root readily if you want to break off a few to share with friends and family.

Minuses: Many hybrids of the two species make it more difficult to predict the natural bloom time of a particular plant. Commercial growers can manipulate light and/or temperature to induce blooming at a particular time; just because you purchase a holiday cactus in bloom at Christmas is not an assurance that it will rebloom at that time in future years.

Sources: Blooming holiday cactus plants are widely available at florists and garden centers in November and December. For more information on growing them and manipulating bloom times, see wimaster gardener.org/article/holiday-cactus/.

MIDWEST GARDENING