I have had a Christmas cactus since about 1982. It has gone through some ages and stages. This summer I took it outside for it's annual bath and this year the micro manager insisted that it get a good haircut. So I trimmed it back as it was really overgrown. When Christmas cactus get a short haircut they usually don't bloom that year. Surprise , surprise , there are blooms. The November blooms have just finished and Christmas buds are showing.
So life is good.
When I came here in 1969, the Vice Principal had quite a few plants in his classroom. He's in the staff photo I shared in the last post. He's second from the left in the second row from the top. He retired in 1982 and guess what ? He had some plants to dispose of. I took them all. There was a very elderly Christmas cactus which didn't do well in the classroom. I kept the plant and found a large pot. When I retired I brought it home and started new plants from the old one 
By the way, those people wondering which was me in this photo? I'm third from the left in the bottom row. This is a long time ago when I was about 40.
Now I'm wondering how long ago this plant was started.
Now today I wanted to do some research on the Christmas Cactus. I was very disappointed to find that most of the sites were about sales of Christmas Cactus plants. Commercialization!
I make sure my cactus sits in the same light all year. They are very sensitive to light and if they are moved from place to place do not bloom very well.
So this old cactus is going to have some nice blooms for me at Christmas.
