Bev, if you have had this a long time and this is the first year it has done this, I’ll have to do some digging. If this is the first year you have had it, you may have a variety that blooms at a different time of year. There are Christmas cactus, Thanksgiving cactus, Easter cactus and I found a Spring cactus this year that I gave to my mom. They each have slightly different leaf shape and, obviously, bloom at different times. I suppose you have one of the alternate varieties. If you bought it in bloom at Christmas, it may have been a different type that was forced and now it is behaving as it should. If you haven’t checked it out yet, I have posted something about the cactuses here. And maybe someone else has another answer. Let me know!

Shirley, I did some research and came up with some info. I posted it on the latest The Dirt, so you can check there, but it essentially says the purple shamrock only needs about a month in a cool, dark place. Check out the posting for more info. And thanks for the question!

Robin, I will do some more looking, but it appears it could be a couple of things. One thing I came across in my reading was that a family living in Zone 4 bring their hibiscus in for the winter and remove cobwebs and leaves and give them a good shower, but in February and March theiy have a lot of leaf drop and small black bumps that cover the stem. This is scale and needs to be treated with horticultural oil. Another problem I came across is wilt that occurs when there isn’t enough water reaching the aerial part of the plant but can also be caused by keeping the soil so wet that the root system can’t get any air. These plants will go into a rest period during the winter and should only be watered to the point of preventing the soil from drying out. I’ll still look for more info and see if any other readers have other suggestions.

Anita,
You should cut the long stems back to around a foot or 18″ by Thanksgiving. You can probably leave them 2 feet long, too. Just tie them together so they don’t whip around too much in the winter winds. If you are going to use one of those styrofoam cones, you will need to trim them short enough to fit under that, but I usually just tie the stems together, put about a foot of new soil around the base of the rose and then cover it with leaves or mulch. The stems that are treated to the harsh winter weather will possibly die, but then you just cut that off in the spring when the new growth starts. When that new growth starts showing up, remove the mulch and as much of the dirt as you can without ripping your hands apart with the thorns. Watering and rain will wash the rest of the mound away, although my mom’s Firefighter rose still has some dirt mounded at the base and it seems to be doing very well. It started producing flowers before mine did!
Good luck!
Eileen

Seeds should be harvested when they flowerhead has dried out. It depends on if the plant has matured to that point at the time of the freeze. It can happen beforehand, but you can collect seeds afterwards, too. Whenever you harvest them, make sure they are completely dry before you store them as any amount of moisture will cause them to mold. And label each container you put them in. We have some seeds from a friend of ours who has since died and we have no idea what they are. While I could just throw them in the ground and see if they grow, I don’t know how tall they will get, nor am I sure of their light requirements. So, it is a really good idea to mark them up… even if you think you can remember! Have fun!