Santa Cactus

Pauline's magenta Santa cactus

For as long as I can remember there have been Christmas cactuses in our family. Both my mother and my father have always been big fans of this very seasonal plant.

This specimen came as a gift to my mother-in-law from one of the flower shops here in Pigeon. (Pigeon may be a small town, population 1200, but it has two flower shops, four banks, a dime store, two restaurants, a pizza place, a hardware, a library, post office, a grocery, three gas stations/party stores, a women's clothing store, dry cleaner, a gift shop, two drug stores, a health care complex that includes emergency services and a hospital, and more).

The plant was delivered to Pauline's house before Christmas in 2009 with a card that said it was from Santa Claus. The plant was filled with magenta blossoms and Mom Eichler really enjoyed it that year. When she moved to Country Gardens in May of 2010, Ed and I became caretakers of the Santa Cactus.

When it bloomed in December of 2010, the plant moved to Pauline's apartment at Country Gardens. After the blossoms dropped, we took the plant back to the lakehouse where it summered in the sunroom and the garage.

My grandson Finn and I counted 62 buds on the Santa Cactus just before Thanksgiving. Now it is filled with color and really is too big for Pauline's apartment. I keep it perched on top of a brown pottery bean pot so that the fronds have room to arch gracefully. The cactus likes the cool sunroom during the week; on weekends it displays its color on the dining table.

By the way, no one has stepped up to claim to be the Santa who sent this plant to Pauline. So, we can safely say, "yes, Pauline, there really is a Santa Claus."

Copyright 2011
Wanda Hayes Eichler