Christmas cactus

Schlumbergera, usually known as Christmas or Thanksgiving cactus, grow in tropical  south-eastern Brazil. The stems look like jointed flattened leaves and the flowers arise from the tips and joints of the stems.

In the wild, Schlumbergera grow on trees or rocks and develop into shrubs which can reach 1.2 metres in height. If the flowers are fertilised, small fruits may form.                                                     

        In Brazil, the cactus is called the Flor de Maio, the May flower.  Care should be taken when moving a plant in bud, as the buds may drop off.

The flowers may be red, white, orange, yellow, pink or purple. There are new cultivars that combine two or three colours on one plant.

Schlumbergera 'Branca Dobrada' has double white flowers. The plant also bears single white flowers at the same time.

Schlumbergera plants are tropical plants and prefer to be kept  in temperatures above 10˚C. They dislike waterlogged soil.

Today's Flowers #78 Azalea

Azalea in a flowery pot

It has many buds quite tightly furled at present . . .

  . . . which will open  . . .

. . . to reveal their full beauty.

Azaleas are members of the Rhododendron genus, native to the hilly areas of Asia and North America and flowering in damp, well-drained places in Spring.  Some are deciduous, others evergreen, many are fragrant. They are extremely toxic to sheep and goats but cause no problems for cats and dogs. In Korea an alcoholic drink called 'Tugyonju' (azalea grape wine) is fermented from their blooms. In China the azalea is known as 'thinking of home bush'.

It is also the astrological symbolic flower for Sagittarius and one of the symbols of Sao Paulo in Brazil.

Many cities in the States have azalea festivals but Alabama has the greatest claim to importance in the azalea world, having several nurseries supplying azaleas to the rest of the USA.

Thank you to the 'Today's Flowers' team for hosting this meme. To see more beautiful blooms please click here.

Radiation alert!

In the wake of announcements that body scanners are to be used routinely in airports a television journalist today reported that there was concern over the risk of radiation. If passengers are really worried about radiation they would be well advised not to fly at all since flying increases exposure to cosmic radiation which can harm DNA and cause cancers. As one travels further from the surface of the earth the atmosphere becomes thinner and the magnetic field weaker and exposure to cosmic radiation increases. It is one of the major problems of space travel.
Thus, passengers flying at 30,000 feet in an aircraft confront a greater risk of harmful radiation than from an airport body scanner. The amount of radiation emitted by a scanner used for security purposes is negligible.
Perhaps people who have concerns should avoid areas of high natural radiation – Cornwall in the UK for example, or Yangjiang in China, Kerala in India, Guarapari in Brazil, or the area with the highest level of background radiation, Ramsar in Iran.
Doubtless the worries over body scanners will persist for as long as ill-informed reporters continue to make alarmist remarks.