Bayou Garden

Holiday Cactuses Live on Past the Holidays

By Dan Gill

Published December 20, 2014 at 6:53 AM CST

Drawing of S. russelliana, the type species, from the Botanical Magazine, 1839

Thanksgiving and Christmas cactuses aren't from the desert, but tropical rainforests in Brazil, where they spend their lives perched up in the trees with their roots in pockets of decaying organic matter lodged in cavities along the branches.

And they're decorative plants you want to keep!

Tags

Dan Gill

Dan is an Associate Professor in Consumer Horticulture with the LSU AgCenter. He is the spokesperson for the LSU AgCenter’s "Get It Growing project," an effort encouraging home horticulture throughout Louisiana. Dan is also author of "Month-by-Month Gardening in Louisiana" and co-author of the "Louisiana Gardener’s Guide."

See stories by Dan Gill