They're still going strong on 5 January . . . . . . and their Last Hurrah on 5 February . . . It's too bad I had to move the flower cart so many times; I estimate that I lost over 100 buds due to this moving about. I'll have to think of something else for next year. Meanwhile, all the cacti are already showing new growth, so when the temps go back up, I will start them on plant fertilizer. Something I learned this year: "Christmas cacti don't have leaves. Instead, they have fleshy green segments called cladodes that join together to form stems." I'd been calling them lobes. I am also awaiting blooms on the six amaryllis plants, but no sighting of flower buds yet. I daren't bring plants into the house, so I consider the plants on the flower cart my houseplants. And yes, I talk to them. And no, Neal doesn't have to carry me on his shoulders, luckily for him!

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