Fairy Blossom

by Jeanette French

Title

Fairy Blossom

Artist

Jeanette French

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

Delicate, graceful, fairy blooms in the dead of winter burst forth from the flower of hope, as my daughter call it. The earliest common name for this lovely bloomer is Christmas cactus, due to the fact that in Europe it was largely grown for sale during the time before the Christmas holidays.
The genus of the Christmas cactus is Schlumbergera, one of a small group of six cacti species found in Brazil’s coastal mountains. Unlike their desert relatives, these cacti grow on trees and rocks in shady areas of high humidity. Most of these cacti have stems that are made up of a series of leaf-like pads joined together and flowers that emerge form aeroles at both the joints and the stem tips.
Schlumbergera truncate is known to have been cultivated in Europe as early as 1818. In 1852 a deliberate crossing of species resulted in the hybrid S. x buckleyi. This Buckleyi Group shows rounded stem segments with symmetrical teeth and flowers that hang down below the horizontal plane and the pollen is pink. Flowering later that the other group, Buckleyi plants are more likely to be called Christmas cactus.
The second group is called Truncata, primarily containing cultivars from the species S. truncate. The stem segments of this group have more pointed teeth and the flowers are held horizontal or higher. The upper side of the flower is shaped differently than the lower and the pollen is yellow. Because they flower earlier in the season than the Buckleyi Group, they are often named Thanksgiving cactus, Crab cactus or Claw cactus.
It is quite fun to photograph these delicate flowers. They remind me of orchids in their delicacy and beauty and grace.
Jeanette French, paintings, photographs, canvas prints, framed prints, metallic prints, acrylic prints, greeting cards, gift cards, fine art.
Creating portals of light, love, joy, beauty, compassion, hope and gratitude is my lifelong passion and gift for the earth, hence the name of my art business, For the Earth. My mother painted in oils when I was young and encouraged my own drawing, painting and handcrafting in all forms. My father, the photographer, gave me my first camera at age 8. As a result of these loving influences, I am a lifelong student of both mediums. I am grateful to my wonderful Pacific NW painter teachers, Stan Capon and Edi Olson, for training my eye and technique. I hope you will enjoy this image as much as I enjoyed its creation. More gifts for the earth can be found at these websites: jeanette-french.artistwebsites.com and jeanette-french.pixels.com.

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January 18th, 2014

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