365Caws is now in its 14th year of publication, and was originally intended to end after 365 days. It has sometimes been difficult for me to find new material, particularly during the winter months, but now as I enter my own twilight years, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to provide daily posts. It is my hope that along the way I may have inspired someone to a greater curiosity about the natural world. If so, I can rest, content in the knowledge that my work here has been done.
Saturday, February 15, 2020
Second Round
Day 125: There is almost always something in bloom at my house. Indoors, the white and yellow Christmas cacti are putting on their second flush of blooms, a little late for their customary mid-January appointment. As you may recall, I cross-pollinated the yellow one with the white in November and am now waiting for Yellow's pods to mature. So far, I have had no luck going the opposite direction. However, I have my paintbrush handy in case Yellow produces pollen (which it has not yet done). Meanwhile, White is putting on a show. Its colour drifts toward a pale shell pink when temperatures are too cool or light levels are too low. This season, conditions in my back bedroom window were pretty close to perfect, with only a faint blush evident in the blooms. I am also happy to report that I have kept my Tillandsia alive for over TWO YEARS now. Lovingly known as "Saturday" for the schedule on which I give it a light spray of water, the plant is not likely to reward me with a flower spike for my pains, but I find its three-inch array of thready foliage very gratifying. Now, if I could just get that damn Clivia to bloom...
Labels:
Christmas cactus,
cross-pollination
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