Merry Christmas to Me!

Plant tags.

 I have drooled over the Logee's Greenhouse catalog for years. I have asked for numerous birthday and Christmas gifts, only to be told that I have too many plants.....(really?! Who can have too many plants?) Anyway, my wish finally came true and this Christmas I received two plants from my daughter. I wanted the Schlumbergera 'Aspen' last year, but alas, it was sold out. (My husband was so disappointed.......) 
Then, two days after Christmas, my daughter received HER Logee's catalog. "It came to me?!" she asked with a little disgust. Of course, she wouldn't want to anyone to think she had ordered a plant catalog. She let me borrow it.....and low and behold, my two new plants are right next to each other on the rare and unusual plants page. 

Logee's catalog page with my Christmas gifts right next to each other.

I can hardly believe the hoya will have a flower cluster the size of a soccer ball, and I won't be expecting it in my environment, but maybe it will surprise me. Of course, it doesn't flower until the vine is 6-8' long, so I do have quite a while to wait. My plant is in a 2.5" pot and is about 18" long. The thick, fuzzy leaves are nice, so I will have to be happy with those until the spectacular flowers appear. 

Hoya lauterbachii-Giant wax plant

The schlumbergera, although labeled as a Christmas cactus, appears to me to be a Thanksgiving cactus. The ruffled edges of the petals are so unusual and I hope it will bloom for me next year. All my other ones do, so this should be a sure thing. I'll post pictures when it happens.

Schlumbergera 'Aspen'

Actually, I was amazed that the plants survived, being delivered to me on a cold December day in Michigan. They were wrapped in plain paper and packed in a cardboard box, but so far, so good. I'll keep you posted on the progress of my gifts.