Thanksgiving cactus blooms

Keep your cactus flowering from Thanksgiving through Christmas, adding festive colour indoors

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Straight from Brazil, the Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumbergera truncata) is a fuss-free houseplant that flowers around November.

Its crab-claw-shaped leaves hold red or magenta tube-like blooms that look like a flower within a flower. And the fun fact is, it’s actually an epiphyte, meaning it grows on other plants in nature.

How to get the thanksgiving cactus to bloom

Since it comes from Brazil, the trick is to mimic its natural rhythm. In the wild, it blooms at the end of the rainy season, late fall—right around Thanksgiving. The flowering season usually runs from November to March, with each flower lasting 7-8 days.

Indoors, it might need a little nudge. Shorter, cooler days kickstart blooming. You can place it outdoors in early fall to catch chilly nights or recreate the same conditions indoors.