Day 48: "Picotee." The word derives from the term "picot," describing small loops of thread deliberately placed along the borders of a piece of needlework (especially in crocheting or tatting). In plant varieties, it refers to a blossom of one color with a border of another, and was originally used to describe white carnations with pink or red trim. This picotee Zygocactus is one of my favorites (running a close second to the rarer yellow variety).
Call them "Christmas cacti" if you will, once they have adjusted to the cycle of light and dark outside the forced conditions of a nursery, Zygocacti are more likely to come into bloom around Thanksgiving in the Pacific Northwest. They will put on a second smaller flush of dragon-head blooms in January or February. These attractive plants withstand a fair amount of forgetful care and still reward their owners with plenty of showy color.
No comments:
Post a Comment