We have been keeping a couple of dozen flowering cacti plants for a number of years now.  They spend October to May in the small greenhouse at the end of our living room.  In the Spring and Summer, we move them outside on the deck, and they soak up sun and rain during that time.  Then, my wife cleans them off and brings them inside.

Normally, they have been flowering a month or so after coming indoors, as the days get shorter.  Even though they are nominally “Christmas Cacti”, they’ve been blooming more like Halloween or Thanksgiving plants.  This year, however, they have exploded with color later than usual and will probably deserve their name.  Here’s what they look like now:

I show you these so that you will know that food and wine aren’t the only sensual delights I care about.  In fact these colors reminded me of a photo I took this Spring of flower boxes outside a restaurant in the city.  I decided to play with my Waterlogue app and produce this watercolor, inspired by the cactus flowers.  These will prepare us effectively for the gray days ahead of Fall and Winter in New England.