Excellent! The patio it shall be. :)

This isn't really even a cactus - no thorns, but rather Schlumbergera or Zygocactus. I don't think I'd plant it in the ground, but rather put it in a slightly bigger pot - if at all - and, at most put it on the porch outside.

I do know that sun will turn the leaves yellow. Right now I have mine nestled in some potted plants on the east side of the house where is gets direct sun for only a brief period in the morning and benefits from the more moist conditions created by the surrounding plants. One of these days I'll start seeing buds and I'll bring it in for the holidays.

Too much sun can turn the leaves red. The covered patio will work out fine, and if it needs a larger pot, choose one just and inch or two bigger. They like being a little crowded.

Thanks for the great advice/suggestions! I would've thrown caution to the wind and stuck it in one of my *HUGE* planters on the patio. But not now. :) And I did not know that too much sun would turn its leaves red. Parts of the patio get no direct sun at all, but I think I'll put this little fella where it'll get some shaded sun, but nothing too intense.

Mine lives in a pot against the house where it only gets direct sun briefly at the very end of the day.

Easy as pie outdoors. Just keep burning sun off them. In ground,even better. A friend has theirs in one of those raised brick planters fronting the typical California home...and its like a dwarf hedge..a million blooms.

I love that this plant flowers throughout the year. It's been indoors all its life, though, so I don't know what to expect once I move it outside!

I'm in your same zone and have had two outside for years, never have kept them inside. However, they bloom only once a year. Do they bloom more often inside? I wonder! They are in bright shade.

Some nurseries mix the spring-blooming (so-called Easter cactus) and the winter blooming (so-called Christmas cactus) in the same pot, so there are two flowering periods during the year. I can understand not noticing the difference between the similar-looking segments, but someone I know didn't realize that the plant produced two different colors of flowers, depending upon the season. I thought that was funny.

Okay, here's the thing: it does produce different colored blooms, but there's only ONE plant in the pot! (Yes, I'm sure!) Some of the blooms are pale pink while others are white. I suppose you could say they're just variations along the same color spectrum.

Also, yes, this plant does bloom multiple times throughout the year. I've never paid close enough attention to notice a pattern to its blooming, so this is just a guess, but I think it blooms about 4-5 times per year, each time for a couple weeks. (Don't hold me to any of that! I'm really not sure.) We'll have to see what happens once it's outside.

You must be providing the correct temperature drop and hours of light that trigger blooming on a routine basis then. Congratulations! Some people manage to do that for a couple of bloom cycles per year, but to have 4-5 without trying, I would think, is unusual. Understand that you may lose at least some of the frequent bloom cycles if you move the plant outdoors.

The flowers may be different on a single plant (that is how we get some cool new introductions), or it could be the result of a mix of newer and older flowers.

The plant has been in the kitchen window, above the sink, which actually forms a corner, so there's one north-facing window and one west-facing window that come together. The net effect is that the plant gets A LOT of sun every day, albeit behind glass and screens. Once it's outside it'll have to deal with much crazier heat than it's used to indoors, especially if I locate it where it gets as much sun as it's used to--but I think that's probably not the smartest idea. I can keep it sheltered somewhat as noted earlier, i.e., on the covered, shaded patio, but then it won't be getting much sun...which it's definitely used to.

You know, I think I might be changing my mind again. I seem to do that a lot after posting here! How does this sound instead of moving it outdoors: put it in a larger pot INDOORS! Keep it in the kitchen window where it's done so well, but just give it a bigger 'house' so to speak.

You would probably enjoy keeping it inside as described.