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The Great Christmas Cactus Controversy


By Paul James

I write this post with a mix of shame and embarrassment, and with an apology to those whose lives have been forever changed by a grievous error for which I bear some responsibility. You see, what we’ve been selling as Christmas cacti for the past few weeks are in fact Thanksgiving cacti. Unbelievable, right?

It appears we (including yours truly) failed to realize that our supplier delivered Schlumbergera truncata (the Thanksgiving cactus) instead of the remarkably similar Schlumbergera bridgesii (the Christmas cactus).

Actually, from several steps away, and with my mature but corrected vision, the two cacti are nearly identical in terms of their foliage and flowers. I even found a number of websites — including, of all places, FTD, Amazon, and the hugely popular Harry & David (I love their pears!) — who likewise are selling Thanksgiving cacti and calling them Christmas cacti. But strictly and botanically speaking, they are indeed different plants.

In our defense, the order sheets provided by our supplier say “Christmas Cactus,” so we assumed that’s what we’d be getting. It wasn’t until we got a post from a follower on social media that we were alerted to the mixup. Then we got another post. And finally we got one from a rather snarky follower who suggested we “learn the difference” — ouch! Lesson learned!

We’ll certainly be in touch with our supplier to discuss and resolve the matter so we don’t repeat the same mistake next year. In the meantime, I have a suggestion: why don’t we just call them all Holiday cacti from now on?

Happy gardening, ya’ll. And happy holidays. I’ll be back in 2022.