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A Gift for my US friends

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This is a photo of my Thanksgiving Cactus.

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Naturally it didn’t bloom for our early Canadian Thanksgiving. Nope, it’s named for the American Thanksgiving obviously. Each year without fail my Thanksgiving cactus starts blooming like crazy.

Most people would call this a Christmas Cactus because they don’t realize that there are actually three types of Schlumbergera. There is one that blooms in November in the Northern Hemisphere, one that blooms around Christmas time and into the new year, and yet another species that bloom around Easter.

I have two of these species- the one in the photo above is a Thanks Giving Cactus and I’m watching my Christmas cactus begin to develop tiny flower buds already. I guess I gave it a very good cool down this autumn because it seems very happy.

This cactus has orangey red flowers, but my Christmas cactus has bright pink flowers. If I had to pick between the two I’d say that the colour of my Christmas Cactus flowers are my favorite.

If you are interested in learning how to tell the different species apart please come back on Monday and I’ll have an article posted about the differences between these three species.

Don’t forget to visit Tricia’s Musings for another Green Thumb Sunday photo too!

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.






Beautiful Malva sylvestra

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Wordless Wednesday

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There are many types of plants that fall into the family Malva – Hibiscus, cotton plants, mallows, okra and even Hollyhocks.

I grow several types of Malva in my garden and indoors – three types of hibiscus, two mallow species and at least four different types of hollyhocks.

All of this plants have simple yet wide open flowers.

I love the Malva sylvestra that I’ve posted above. It’s very easy to grow, seeds itself and spreads easily but not so much that one would call it invasive, and tolerates lightly shaded areas well.

The delicate stripes on the flowers of M. sylvestra are what drew me to this plant in the beginning and it’s ease of care are one of the reasons why I plan to keep it in the garden for years to come.

Karl Rosenfield Peony

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Karl Rosenfield Peony

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Yes I know this is a spring flower, but even though it’s not Spring her in North America we do have some members of Green Thumb Sunday from areas that are having Spring. So let’s say this one is for the Aussies and I believe there is at least on New Zealander on the list too.Besides who doesn’t love a beautiful peony?

Most peonies have very attractive flowers and many are scented. This one however has no scent, not to my sensitive nose anyway. Another thing that I enjoy about peonies is that they often have lovely foliage, so throughout the growing season they continue to be attractive plants in the garden even though they may only bloom for a few weeks each year.

Of the four different peonies that I grow I think that this Karl Rosenfield Peony has the most gorgeous foliage. Just look at how lush and green it is. This a very attractive plant from it’s large feathery petaled blooms to it’s forest green leaves. I love it.

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

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