A Merry Christmas Everyone!

С  ВЕСЕЛЫМ РОЖДЕСТВОМ!

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Let your heart be light
From now on, our troubles will be out of sight
 

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Make the Yule-tide gay,
From now on, our troubles will be miles away.

Here we are as in olden days,
happy golden days of yore.
Faithful friends who are dear to us gather near to us once more.

Through the years we all will be together
If the Fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough.
And have yourself a merry little Christmas now.



Here is this song performed by Frank Sinatra:

St. Isaak Cathedral, Christmas, Saint petersburg

'Griffon bridge' Saint Petersburg

Blooming Day in Mid-December

There is nothing in bloom in the snowy garden, it's December and weather is cold and frosty. The indoor plants are in bloom now, despite on dark and short wintry days. The first one is Dendrobium nobile, the nice fragrant orchid that grows three years in my home and blooms every December. 

I always wait for its beautiful flowers when the small buds appear. 

Dendrobium nobile

Pelargonium have started to flourish well. The last months they had a rest after transportation from the garden.  Here are 'Royal' and 'Zonal' varieties:

I've written in my post in May 2018 that I propagated Saintpaulia (African violet) and planted one leaf in a small pot. Look at this, now it's an adult plant that has a first flower. It's known that the variety always persists due this method of plant breeding.

Little Christmas cacti continue blooming, their fuchsia color flowers open every day. That's all for December. Hopefully next month my indoor plants are in bloom:-) 

Happy Garden Blog Blooming Day!

Schlumbergera or Christmas Cactus

Anew snow flakes are pouring from the sky outside. This time the pink flowers of the Christmas cactus are shining on curved branches. It becomes warm and cozy at home and it seems that spring is about to come. 
Christmas cactus is a popular name due to the fact that the plant starts  blooming in December on the Christmas and continues in January on the Orthodox Christmas. Due to such unusual flowering periods for our latitudes, people in Russia call it a common name “Decembrist”. There is a scientific name  Schlumbergera or Zygocactus (Zygocactus).

What is Schlumbergera in a wild? Wiki answers: Plants grow on trees or rocks. Most species of them have stems which resemble leaf-like pads joined one to the other and flowers which appear at the joints and tips of the stems.

Two years ago I'd planted small cuttings of Schlumbergera leaves in pots and after 2 months they rooted. I think that the most inexperienced gardener can grow this plant and enjoy looking at it. Now my Christmas cacti are in bloom.

This December Christmas cacti have begun to bloom early.  Because I had placed pots on a cool windowsill and watered a little, flower buds appeared and started to enlarge.  

Do you love this plant? What do you suppose if it is easy in growth or not?