Classifieds

You will see poinsettias everywhere this time of year, and if you are tired of them you might want to try the easy-to-grow Thanksgiving cactus. You probably have heard them be called Christmas cacti. There are three species of similar tropical cacti. One blooms in the fall, one in the winter and one in the spring. They are named after the three holidays of Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter.
The Thanksgiving cactus is actually the most common one sold, even for Christmas. To tell all of them apart, look at the flattened stem. It is not a leaf, but that’s what it looks like. These cacti do not have any leaves. The Thanksgiving cactus has several long saw-tooth projections on the edge of each stem segment. The true Christmas cactus usually has four rounded bumps on each stem segment. The Easter cactus has four to six wavy scallops on the edge. On all the species, the ends of the stems can have some small cactus spines....