18 hours of darkness? Now where in the world could they possibly get that naturally? This is of course an old wive's tale. The various holiday cactus are all fairly similar in their requirements to initiate flowering. Cool temperatures somewhere in the range of 50F-60F will initiate flowering regardless of the day (or night) length. These temperatures must be maintained for several weeks. If temperatures rise, early buds may grow as leaves. If temperatures are above 60F, flowers may still be initiated by shortening days. 14 hour nights are sufficient to initiate flowering but shorter nights may also produce buds, sometimes barely longer than 12 hours. Plants grown outside typically initiate buds in about September (northern hemisphere) and then go on to flower in November or December. The requirements for these plants are known precisely because they are so widely produced commercially. Flowering can be initiated almost to the exact day so that plants are available for sale exactly when they are "supposed" to be in flower.

Hi Tammy! It's good to see you, and a big thanks for sharing those pictures! It's cold and blowing snow outside hereabouts, so those pix of a summer garden are very welcome right now! It's brrrr chilly outside! The black pussy willows rooted for me, but when I put them in the ground outside they disappeared. I'm thinking they made a nice meal for one the varmints around here. At least we tried, right? No matter what we do, Mother Nature always has the last word, darn it all! Do you by any chance do some sewing? If so, you'll have to stop by the Seeds-n-Stitches group. It's a loose-knit group of people sharing their passions for gardening and sewing, and yes, there's always something going on. Even if you don't sew, stop by anyway! It's good to see you back in the threads! -Dan

They should have relocated to WA where cacti do very well and are needed here.

The previous incarnation of House and Garden had my favorite editor in chief ever, Dominique Browning. I still miss reading her pieces in that magazine! Thanks for sharing the news, looking forward to reading the new version.