Timeline for Mr. Cactus' Tale of Woe:
Christmas 2010 - Plant given to us by my dear mother-in-law. It was one of five itty bitty tiny cacti that had been part of a centerpiece sent to my in-laws over the holidays.
January 2011 - I freak out because, damn it, I don't know anything about raisin' no cactus. I repot him into a permanent pot, but he always looks sad.
February 2011 - August 2011 - Mr. Cactus stays alive through sheer willpower on his part.
August 2011 - Two things simultaneously happen in this month. One, we obtain a certain four-legged fuzzy creature who is attracted to all things green. Attracted to = longs to eat and destroy. Two, we move to an apartment that gets no sun.
September 2011 - We notice the first puncture hole in Mr. Cactus' leaves. (If you look closely in the picture, you can see one of these holes.) Hm. Mr. Cactus is banished (banished!) to the bedroom where it gets even less than no sun, but will never see the cat. Also, we find out my MIL's cancer is back and I become irrationally terrified that if anything happens to the cactus, she will find out and never recover.
November 2011 - Mr. Cactus sprouts flowers!
May 2012 - I finally repot Mr. Cactus and he begins growing immediately. I also get the brilliant idea to put him outside on the balcony so he can get a bit more than no sun.
So sad, Mr. Cactus. Your life is full of hardships and challenges. Just wait until we move again later this month!
My mom loved Christmas Cacti. At one point she asked for one for 3 or 4 Christmas's in a row. Finally she told me that for Christmas SHE WANTED A CHRISTMAS CACTUS THAT SHE HAD BEEN WANTING FOR SEVERAL YEARS!!! I bought her one, and I think dad still has it. They last forever~!
ReplyDeleteCactuses (Cacti?) are VERY forgiving. They are wonderful that way.
ReplyDeleteI have a very strong attachment to plants. I got a jade plant my first year of college, and that thing lived all four years. During the summers, it would live in the Dean's office while I went home. Then it drove with me to Ohio where I worked before grad school.
ReplyDeleteBut on the way to my new apartment for grad school, we hit some... shall we say... problems... and the jade plant ended up being fried to death in my car. It was the saddest, most horrible thing... I cried for DAYS about that plant. And now I am getting sad just thinking about it.