Friday, November 7, 2008

Christmas Cactus, Fall Color and a Coopers Hawk

We spied this Coopers Hawk atop a pole surveying the farm fields in search of 'lunch'. There are a lot of these birds in our area and it's always exciting to see them doing their thing.
Leaves I've picked up and saved under the oilcloth on the kitchen table. Makes an interesting piece of art. The leaves represented here are from Maple, Oak, and Tulip trees. The small red leaves are from a Burning Bush. Handsome, eh?

I call this my 'Christmas' Cactus but I should rename it my October Cactus. I have no clue why but it blooms every October. I can force it to bloom again if I keep it in the dark but it seems to take a toll on the plant. I bought this as a spindly little piece nearly dead at the end of the season a few years back uncertain of it's future but here she. Pretty, isn't she? I've started other plants from her and they bloom later than this one but never in December unless forced. Anyone know why they're called Christmas Cactus?



2 comments:

Cindy said...

The hawk is beautiful, I have a picture of one on my blog that landed in our front tree.

NanC said...

You mean the hawk was in your neighborhood? We have seen one in our alley way. For some reason we have a lot of rabbits in our area and I think that's what drew the Cooper to our alley way.
Have you seen the hawk anymore? I haven't seen ours since the weather turned colder.