How do I preserve a Christmas Cactus?

Question

I am looking for a way to preserve a few of the blooms off of a Christmas Cactus without having to dry them and without altering the color too much, if at all. These flowers are VERY special to me and I would like to have one to keep forever. Thanks in advance to anyone who can tell me.

I thought about pressing one but I would like to keep it as it is. As I said these flowers are very special to me and even though the plants themselves live for a long time and I could cut and root them I want to preserve this bloom as a memory to my grandfather who passed away last year, tomorrow will be a year and these were his plants. Thanks for your ideas and I will try them and see if any of them work.

Answer 1

Hi:
The great thing about a Christmas cactus is that if you keep indoors year around and properly feed and water it, your plant will blossom year around. After the Cactus blooms around Christmas, it will go in a period of no growth. This usually last about a month or so. It is also good at this time if you move the plant to a different location with not as much direct sunlight.

Feed your Cactus once a week with a good nutrient base plant food and water when the soil is dry. If you follow these steps, your Cactus should bloom throughout the entire year.

Yes, you can also preserve flowers by pressing them in wax paper. This is similar to preserving roses.

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Answer 2

I've never heard of preserving a succulent plant before. I do know that you can keep those plants for many years. In Europe, they must keep the plants inside. One I asked about, it was over 50 yrs old, very big.

They are very easy to root from a piece broke off.When my plants are in full bloom, I take pictures of them for keepsake.

Answer 3

I don't know if it'll work, but you could try using a clothes pin and clipping it onto the bottom of the bloom and then hanging it up and maybe it'll dry. Again, I don't know if it will work, but it's worth trying. Maybe there's a spray for preservation as well. Goodluck

Answer 4

Best solution is to press them in wax paper, heavy book.

The Victorians used to preserve many different flowers for bouquets by dipping them in melted wax.

Photograph, hand done painting, sculpture. Don't know how well spraying them with several coats of clear laquer would work, but I'd try and see. Mount in shadow box, maybe.

Dry them in glycerine, I think. Spt knows this technique.

Cool idea, thanks for the thoughts.