Easter cactus (Hatiora gaertneri)

Along with thinking that Thanksgiving cacti were Christmas cacti (in fact, I didn't know that Thanksgiving cacti existed), I also thought that Christmas cacti and Easter cacti were the same thing, having being around being that used the name interchangeably and since we had cacti that bloomed both around Christmas and Easter.

All the reading I've done over the past few months has shown me that I was wrong, but that I apparently wasn't the only one that thought that way.

In any case, when it became clear to me that these were all different plants, I felt the need to have at least one of each. Looking at pictures, it then dawned on me that I actually used to own an Easter cactus; back when it first flowered for me, I remembered being amused that the blooms look different from the other "Christmas/Easter" cacti I had but didn't think more of it (nevermind that the segments also looked totally different), probably justifying it as being part of a different variety.

My first Hatiora gaertneri, circa 2008

I have since lost that Hatiora gaertneri and when I realized that this was in fact a different plant from my Schlumbergera, well this annoyed me greatly.

So off on a search for a Hatiora gaertneri I went. The problem is, these are apparently very hard to come by where I live, and are definitively not available in March, especially when Easter happens to be in late April!

I frequently visited my favourite garden center (as I thought it was the most likely location to receive them), in hopes that one day they would show up. Eventually, I talked with the employee I saw the most frequently and he indicated that they should get some the second week of April. Over my many visits, it became apparent that the new stock came in late in a week and I got confirmation that new plants did in fact arrive on Thursday.

Which meant that last Thursday, a stop at the garden center after work imposed itself. I got in all giddy, but was quickly disappointed when I walked around, spotted loads of new plants associated with Spring but no sign of a single Hatiora gaertneri. That is until my boyfriend pointed out a box that was slightly opened, on top of a second box of equal dimensions, and we looked in.

And there they were, not yet unboxed.

Box 1

Box 2

Soon enough (although it didn't feel like it), we spotted the employee (I really should ask him his name!) and asked if we could take some out, he smiled and nodded (he knew I was waiting for these) and even let us open the second box, so I could pick.

I wanted an orange specimen and had a few plants to pick from and took my time, getting my boyfriend to hold whichever plant I liked the best as I went through them. Funnily enough, this man hovered around, also appearing to want to look in the boxes so I moved to let him in (I can share) but this apparently wasn't enough. When I walked away, that is when he swarmed in.

 I didn't pick the one that had the biggest buds, but I think I went for the one that looked best overall. And since bringing it home last Thursday, the buds have grown and I can't wait for the first bloom to open!

Overall, the choices of colour were orange, pale pink, dark magenta, red and white. It does seem choice is limited compared to what one can get with Schlumbergera. As I went through the boxes, I did look at some of the other coloured plants and found some fallen segments. I picked some up and will try to root them. But that will be for another day!