On The Seventh, Eighth? Seventh Day Of...

Everyone hum along, on the seventh day of Christmas my true love is still not known to me,eeeeeeee! I probably would have better luck finding a pear tree with a partridge hanging out in it. Continuing my posting until the twelve days are up. Oh yes after tonight most of the world will have bleached away any reminder that Christmas was only a week ago. .................................. Christmas cactus, many of us were given one of these little guys, an easy plant to keep actually. The trick is to have it bloom at Christmas time. Not hard to do, just a little attention to detail regarding daylight hours, watering etc. My mother was given one years ago, I don't know how old it is but probably before most current pop stars were born. The thing with this cactus is for years it blooms late. Like a drunken Santa that shows up shouting and ho ho hollering to a party after everyone has gone home, this little cactus bursts into flower.... at the end of January, even February once. While we enjoy the colour, a Christmas cactus in January or February is like a pumpkin in January or February, cool to see but out of place. ............................................... This year however I noticed little pink buds forming in November and there were many. I was thinking that they should be blooming right on time, people would think I have a green thumb, it would be natural Christmas decoration. However the buds began to quickly grow large, the blooms became erect pointing skyward, spurting forth colourful petals, but then after the big moment they began to go limp, shriveled and the plant returned to its unexciting self, with two weeks left until Christmas. Yes the Christmas cactus missed the holiday season again, only this time I think it suffered from premature ecaculation.