A cactus for Christmas | The Press

Some cacti are stealing the show these days in garden centers with their amazing flowering. Others may just be waiting for a few ornaments to live their moment of glory during the festivities. What if Christmas took on an exotic air this year?

André Mousseau and his wife, Pierrette Martel, had just finished their studies at the Institut de technologie agroalimentaire du Québec (ITAQ) when their path crossed that of a cactus enthusiast who was struggling to find his favorite plant in Quebec. “It was virgin territory to explore. Even today, we are the only ones to produce it from seeds and cuttings, says the co-founder of Cactus Fleuri, who opened shop in 1976. Our real competitor is California. Perhaps no one has the patience to grow them in Quebec…”, he muses with humor. Before it can be sold, a cactus will take two to five years to grow.

With more than 700 varieties of succulents, including 300 species of cactus, the company is the reference in Quebec. The cactus may be native to the subtropical climates of America, but it does surprisingly well here in our cozy environments, says Mousseau.

Like all succulents, cacti adapt to drought by storing water in their tissues. This method of adaptation makes them particularly easy to tame by novice gardeners… or negligent ones! After the plastic plant, cacti rank among the least demanding indoor plants, argues Cactus Fleurie’s general manager, Mélanie Brûlé. With minimal care, they can live for years. In their natural habitat, some columnar cacti reach 500 years.

The holiday cactus

“Like most succulents, cacti can survive on their reserves for a long time. It’s about giving them light and a little water when they need it. Better to forget them than to give them too much,” she insists. The soil should therefore be allowed to dry out thoroughly between two waterings. As they are used to poor soils, we will also limit the addition of fertilizer in the summer and in a less concentrated dosage.

There are more than 10,000 varieties of cacti around the world, classified into four main families: globular, ball-shaped; the columnar ones, raised like candles; snowshoe cactus or opuntia, whose fleshy stems are formed of flat segments; and epiphytes, which originally grow on trees. It is to this last category that the Schlumbergera truncataa cactus with smooth stems devoid of thorns that is a delight for collectors and blooms from November until the holidays, earning it the nickname Christmas cactus.

Originally from Brazil, the Christmas cactus reaches approximately 60 cm in width and 40 cm in height. It deploys a beautiful flowering in colors of red, pink, white and more rarely yellow. Well cared for, it can flower until January and possibly return with new flowers at Easter. “The hotter it is, the more it will flower over a short period,” explains André Mousseau. As it has a set number of flowers, a good way to keep it flowering for a long time is to limit the heat to between 15 and 20°C at night. In bloom, it requires more frequent watering, but only when its soil is dry to 2 or 3 cm deep.

A cactus as a Christmas tree

If the Schlumbergera is a classic at Christmas , other more imposing cacti have the panache to host garlands and decorations, and each year take on a festive air at Cactus Fleuri. This is the case ofOpuntia vulgaris and of theOpuntia subulata who can reach 6 m and 4 m in height respectively, and also prickly pear (Opuntia ficus-indica), more than 3 m high when ripe, whose flesh can be boiled or even grilled on the barbecue.

Among the columnar, the Cereus Peruvianus or belle de nuit is also a colossus that branches out over time. When mature, it reaches 3 m in height and produces large, fragrant flowers that only bloom at night. Small, but charming, the Mammillaria gracilis fragilis takes on the air of a snowy bush with its shell of white prickles. In the euphorbias, African cousins ​​of the cactus, the Tirucalli with a shrubby habit becomes as tall as a small tree. Where space is limited, these specimens could well be an original and durable alternative to the king of the forests… but beware of thorns!

Cactus Fleurie opened its agritourism stop five years ago and offers tours of its greenhouses year-round. Workshops are also offered on occasion.