Tulip Cactus

I got this cactus from a friend of mine.  She just pinched a couple of pieces off and told me to stick them in the dirt and water it once in a while.  She said it would do fine.  I did what she said and didn't get any blooms the first year, but I just kept taking care of it.

My friend keeps hers in her garage window in the winter, but she takes it out around Mother's day when the night temperature gets above 50 degrees. She hangs it on her clothes line in the middle of her yard in a hanging basket all Spring in Summer.  It gets full sun there, but it also gets all of our PNW rain. I asked her wouldn't that be too much rain for it, but she said that it does just fine.

The second year that I had this, I brought it inside for the winter and stuck it in a window.  I watered it just about the same as all of my other house plants. I put it out this Spring and it just grew like crazy. I put some of my worm castings in the potting soil, about 1/2 cup.  After that, it grew so much that I had to place it on a plant stand so it wouldn't drag on the ground. I placed the cactus out in my front yard where it gets about 6 hours of full sun a day.  It grew like crazy and I have had blooms from Springtime until now.

So, now my plant has grown so much this season that I plan on dividing it so I can have two.  I plan on just keeping up with what I did last year because it seemed to have worked out fantastic.  I am always worried that I am watering it too much, so I hold back on the amount of water, but I always give it some whenever I water the other plants.

I just love this cactus.  It's so striking.  I think that it has had up to ten blooms at one time.  They are large and vibrant, and really catch your eye.