Nothing says welcome like a pot of prickly cactus at the front door...
This is one of those favorites that I sadly don't have a name for. This group and many more scattered throughout my garden all came from a neighbors plant. She brought them to Portland from somewhere in the Midwest. The are extremely hardy, I've only had a few show signs of rot even after the wettest winter.
They do tend to flop a little in the wintertime, not a huge problem when they're in the ground (I either stake them upright or let them flop and root) but could be unfortunate when they're up in a container like this. It's a long way to the ground.
This last Halloween was a banner year for us, we had more trick-or-treaters than ever before. My favorite was a little boy who pointed at this plant and said "hey lady, where'd you get the cactus?" I still laugh when I think about it.
Normally I'd share the cultural info on the plant being featured, but since I don't know it's name...well...I can tell you there are opuntia hardy to USDA Zone 3. And there are cactus native to every one of the contiguous U.S. states (with the exception of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont) and northward into Canada. That's pretty cool right? Are you growing any opuntia?
Don't forget, there's still time to enter to win a string of pinecone lights from Gardener's Supply (click here) the drawing will take place on Saturday, Dec 13th.
All material © 2009-2014 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.