Cactus

Ooh Nina, that's lovely.
Do you think you could tell mine that Christmas has been and gone, and where, please, were it's flowers?

It’s probably an Easter cacti, the Christmas version has rounder edges to the leaves, the Easter one has sharper edges with little bristle thingys on the joints.

mine throw out flowers at odd times , one I got in full bloom at Christmas has a few buds opening , the other hasn't had a flower since October

My cactus has just finished flowering. It had masses of bright red flowers. Although they are sometimes all known as 'Christmas cacti', I believe the correct term is 'forest cacti'.

It's not the Easter cactus - that is Rhipsalidopsis gaetneri which has rotate flowers. It is what is known as the Christmas cactus - Schlumbergera truncata, which has zygomorphic flowers (unequal flowers) and they do flower any time from Christmas onwards!

You are indeed NanTheWiser great knowledge.
It did flower mid November also.

Well, my speciality is cacti and succulents - I've been growing them for 40 years!

NanThe Wiser, some time ago I bought this from a charity shop for 50 p. I thought I could give it a good home. But, it has never flowered, although new leaves seem to have grown.
Last year I kept it in a dark place for weeks, bringing it out occasionally, which I thought would stimulate the flowers to appear. They didn’t. It is in what looks to be like ordinary garden soil.
Could you please give me some hints and tips as to how to care properly for this little plant? Many thanks .

Auntieflo, it looks healthy enough (they are quite tough plants), but keeping it in a dark place maybe the reason it hasn't flowered. They don't need strong sun, but good light is necessary. Some growers put them in a shady place in the garden during summer months when temperatures are higher, so that might be an option for you. Maybe some light feeding with half strength tomato fertiliser wouldn't go amiss either.

Thank you NanTheWiser. After it’s incarceration, before Christmas, in the hope it would flower, my little plant now lives on the kitchen window cill. This gives it light from early morning to mid afternoon, when the sun goes over.
I shall try a feed when I replace the Tomato fertiliser, and then, later on, in the summer, it can have a holiday in the garden.
I’m not very good with indoor plants usually, but don’t like to give up?

My mother had this in macrame plant holders suspended next to her living room windows. She rarely watered them and never repotted them. They endured hot sunshine and seemed to bloom incessantly.
So my recommendation would be keep them pot bound and dry.