Boisemom. You said, "I seem to regularly kill any Christmas cactus that I try to keep alive year-round. (They) seem to shrivel up and break off right at the soil level . . . can't figure out whether I overwater or underwater, or if it's some kind of fungal disease or something that gets them. Any advice?" 'They' implies you've had more than one Holiday Cactus. If each plant is undergoing the same problem, your Holiday Cactus don't have fungal disease. Don't toss it. A picture would be helpful. Since there's no picture, it's difficult determining the state of its health. If your plant is in in ill-health, it's too bad you couldn't start out with a healthy specimen and follow advice. I agree with Golen. Didn't see if he/she mentioned there are two ways to force Holiday Cactus into bloom. One is by giving it short days or second, kept outdoors until first frost. I go the second route. Short day treatment can be a disaster since timing is very important. A few minutes late can make a difference. It's much easier leaving outside and letting Mother Nature do the job. lol Both soil and pots are important. Too large a pot can halt flowering. Roots should be tight-fitting. Pot material matters too. Some people believe plants need daily watering. Plants will die from over-watering, especially in winter. For those who must water daily, clay pots are a better choice since soil dries faster in clay. Otherwise, plastic pots are sufficient. Also, pots MUST have drainage holes. Without drainage, the top will look/feel dry, but builds up in the bottom half, keeping roots constantly wet. The results, root-rot. Since Holiday Cactus prefer acidic soil, I add a little peat in the mix. However, well-draining soil is a must. There are several medium/soil recipes here on GW and Google. Fish water is okay, but high in Nitrogen. Perhaps alternating with Flowering Plant food would suffice. A balanced fertilizer with additional nutrients will cover all its needs. Fish water works great with foliage plants. Plants known for their leaves instead of flowers. You also mentioned your aquariums are partially cleaned, twice a week? (isn't that a bit much?) So, do you water with fish water twice a week, too? Unless the soil is thoroughly dry, there's no need for two waterings per week. If you've been watering twice a week, and your Holiday Cactus are shriveling, most likely you're over-watering. Check soil before giving a drink. Stick your finger or a stake deep in soil. If it comes out wet/moist, wait a few days and retest. Holiday cactus prefer medium, bright light in summer. During winter months, place in your sunniest window. Unless it's flowering, then keep in semi-bright, non-direct sun. A cool room is preferrable. Too hot, buds and flowers drop and/or fade faster. A bright, enclosed porch is ideal. Good luck. Please don't toss your plant. Toni

Rabbits don't like us humans to redecorate 'their' areas. Even when I rearrange my pet bunnies' room (they have the run of the screen porch,) they have to remark everything (chin rubbing) and will try to move things back. Teeth don't work well for hauling, so it's easier to just nip some things to try to get them to move. Also, bunnies teeth keep growing, so they chomp just to wear the teeth down. And bunnies love a project! Once they decide to start in on that new wallpaper, or new sofa, or new pine tree, they will go back again and again. That's why mine are no longer allowed in the bedrooms. They love to sit and pull carpetfibers out of the backing and will sit and pull fibers till they have a bald spot in the rug, in an OCD kind of way. So, I always plan to protect all new tree purchases when they are being planted in places where bunnies have nested in my yard. Wild bunnies think all new trees must be re-arranged too! Easiest for me is chicken wire around a tomato cage for support.

howdy, Maddie here (short for Madgardener ) I decided to return and peek through the postings to see if there was a place for my insatiable need for horticultural endeavors. Yeppers! I am gardening inside to satiate my urges to grow....but that weren't enough. I pinched a few leggy purple leaf ends of an overpriced but way leggy ornamental Gynura aurantiaca (purple passion vine) and brought them home and started them in my rooting bottle (an older glass apple bottle I bought in Colorado that had apple juice almost 27 years ago, I believe now the apple shaped bottles are now plastic) and I just planted it. Right now I have a Sanseveria that has a spike on the end of it's rolled up leaves and makes it look like a green tail of sorts that has a bloom spike about to open its flowers, a crown of thorns that has both red and white flowers on it, a kalanchole that turned out to have red flowers, a Rubra oxalis that I got from Logee's years ago that has never failed me making buds on the little tree like plant. Next to it, upset at the dryness of my house is the Green and gold oxalis which always sulks during winter. It more looks like a small shrub underneath the Rubra I planted at the same time in the same pot. I also have a wide assortment of various spiny cacti, succulents, and an unusual tradescantia that turned out to be tropical that I finally had a fellow gardener find it's name after for over 29 years I referred to it as "Dutch pipe, or Cherokee pipe plant" which was totally false. It turned out to be a Setcresea Purpurea (Tradescantia Cousin) as far as I know. I also have a cactus named Brenda who weighs 150 pounds in the 20 gallon pot who blooms at night in September which is an upright Cereius and a monstrosa cactus that is really old in a clay pot weighing in around 60 pounds who has refused to bloom yet that I've had now for well on 30 years. A schiffelera that is over seven foot tall that I hung Christmas decorations on because we couldn't get a tree, and no room in our new den because all the tender house plants (including the 5 gallon clay pot full of 22 year old Blood lily bulbs) needed to come in before killing freeze. Yep, I can't seem to give it up either. I have shallots, red onions, and garlic with shoots up in the new garden, narcissus and other little bulbs I planted in November starting to come up already because I'm unsure of what it's like here in Western Tennessee. thanks for listening! maddie gardening in zone 7b 50 miles about from the Mississippi River near Jackson, TN

FYI Believe it or not, it's illegal to possess almost all types of birds feather. I'm always picking them up but I wouldn't display them in any public way. See below. Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16U.S.C. 703-712), "Unless and except as permitted by regulations,...it shall be unlawful at any time, by any means, or in any manner...to pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill, ...possess, offer for sale, sell,...purchase, import...any migratory bird, any part, nest, or eggs of any such bird..." The Act covers the great majority (83%) of all native birds found in the U.S. Many of the species not covered by the Act are covered by the Endangered Species Act , other Federal laws, or state laws, many of which are as stringent as the Migratory Bird Treaty Act . In the lower 48 states, all species except the house sparrow, feral pigeon, common starling, and non-migratory game birds like pheasants, gray partridge, and sage grouse, are protected.