Confused?

It is only two weeks to Thanksgiving which means that it's six weeks until Christmas.    One of our Christmas joys are the flowers of Christmas -- the cactus and the poinsettias and the amaryllis that add color and life to the evergreens on the mantles.

The poinsettias come from the store and the amaryllis are bulbs we've ordered by mail (if we remember in time!)

But the cactus -- the Christmas cactus is a year round resident of Linderhof.     We love it's green bracketed leaves and it's a favorite houseplant.     We have not one but two -- an old one that we've had for  a while and a "new" one that's four years old that was a room-warming gift when we added the breakfast room.

Last year, the little one bloomed while the big one did not!    I must admit that under my care they don't always bloom every year!

When I moved the big old Christmas cactus from the living room to the sunroom, I found . . .

The Christmas cactus on it's pedestal in the breakfast room.

this!     Full of blooms.    It's a lovely white cactus which is really my favorite.     Although it has bloomed before, it has never bloomed so madly as this year!     The reason?    I'm not sure.    We were gone for part of September and early October so perhaps the house was cooler (which the plant likes) and obviously since we were gone, the room was darker (which it needs -- a period of darkness in order to bloom).

Whatever the reason, we love our "confused" Christmas cactus!

I love the tinge of pink that each bloom has!

It's blooms certainly brighten our meals every day!    If only, the flowers had as much aroma as beauty.    It would be heady, for sure, in the breakfast room!

Sadly, I'm afraid that in six weeks when it is Christmastime, my beautiful blooms will be all gone!    This year the cactus was a little ahead of it's time!