Cacti

Believe it or not, we had NINE trick-or-treaters yesterday! I was astonished! By the time I got home from work Dave had already had one, and then the rest showed up over the course of the evening until about 7:30 p.m. And then I had to turn out the porch light because we were down to one mini-candy bar and I worried about how I'd handle it if two kids showed up.

I guess the porch light really is the signal, because we had no other Halloween decorations and no jack-o-lantern. Maybe people on the street know we're American and thus likely to be participating in this insanity, but as I said yesterday, no one came around in previous years.

I must admit I enjoyed handing out candy more than I thought. At some point I turned to Dave and said, "This is pretty fun!"

He rolled his eyes.

Pictures today from our Thanksgiving cacti, which as I understand it really are slightly different from Christmas cacti. Something about the shape of the leaf -- and when they bloom, obviously. (Here's a rather breathless article on the subject.)

This first one is the white -- or really light pink -- cactus that blog reader Frances sent me as a cutting several years ago. It's having its best year ever. I actually have two of them, because I rooted some sprigs in different pots, and now one of those pots dropped a few segments so I have a third one going.

My salmon-colored cactus has about three flowers on it, which is better than last year's one. I've had this plant since 2019 and it's probably the feeblest (healthwise) of all my Thanksgiving cacti, but it's hanging in there.

And finally, here are the bright pink ones, which have dozens of flowers and are easily the most robust. I have two pink-flowering plants. How did I wind up with all these flipping cacti? Basically every time a piece breaks off I root it, because I can't bear to throw it away. Hence, I have more than I ever intended. This is the time of year that it all pays off!