The Cactus that Would Not Die

The old cactus.  It's not blooming now, but it probably will later this year.  In any event, it remains in good health.

My husband and I have a Christmas cactus that we inherited from my aunt.

It’s accompanied us to Kansas and Ohio, and now resides in our study in Pennsylvania. It must be at least sixty years old, and is showing its age.

Infested with white spores, the leaves flop and dangle over their pot, as if begging to be put out of their misery.

But my husband has an emotional attachment to it and refuses to let it go.

“But sometimes you have to be ruthless, if you’re a gardener,” I argue.

My words fall on deaf ears, and the stricken look on his face makes me back down.

When he goes on a trip, I purchase a new cactus hoping that he will let me make an exchange.

I congratulate myself on my cleverness.

Alas, we now have two Christmas cacti as he refuses to part with the heirloom plant.


The new cactus.  It IS blooming now, and rather impressively at that.

He puts the plant under a faucet of running water hoping to wash the spores away.

When this does not work, he goes on the internet to find a recipe for a natural pesticide.

(The one time I tried to use a commercial pesticide on a house plant, it not only killed the mites but the plant too, and my husband is phobic about our dogs getting into a commercial pesticide and dying.)

This homemade formula has, among other things, substantial amounts of garlic in it.

So for several days, our study smells like garlic bread or a pizza parlor.

Alas, this attempt to rid the plant of its blight was also unsuccessful.

But it is now December and this plant is burgeoning with pink blooms.

It has simply refused to give up.

May we bow to the forces of rejuvenation during this Christmas season, Nature showing us the way.

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