Schlumbergera .......

..... is a great name for a small genus of cacti originally growing on trees and rocks in a part of Brazil. Brought to Europe and cultivated from the early 19th century, it seems.

More commonly known here now as the Christmas cactus because of its time of flowering.

I had two small plants in little pots on my desk for years, competing with heaps of paper, a PC, and the other paraphernalia that makes up my fairly untidy work environment. Unloved and - more importantly - forgotten and unwatered in very little "soil" during the hectic working day, I have no idea how they clung on and survived.

I brought them home a few months ago and repotted them. They are responding by growing new "leaves" (I think they are actually stems), and flower buds have appeared on one of them (the other is probably having a think before doing something this dramatic).

Good to Schlumbergera as we approach Christmas.