Opuntias; The Prickly-Pears and Chollas

wait to water for a week or so. If weather is warm water plentifully. They will take more water than cacti are typically reputed for handling. It is fun to watch new growth emerge from the pads. It is almost like a zit that emerges and explodes with pads of the wonderful prickly-pears. Summertime will bring some of the most beautiful flowers out there. I think they have prettier flowers than even roses. They, at times, remind me of the old single-petal roses. Some prickly-pears are spineless for those of you who are careful and/or overprotective, though I think life is not complete without the feeling of spines or glochids (tiny fur-like spines) in your hands. Growth of these species are typically very fast. In the landscape they can be used for living fences, accents and privacy shrubs. 

 

The Chollas

     These are even more dangerous and fun than the prickly-pears, as many have barbed spines, and stems detach with ease. This trait is what has cause some to say that chollas “jump” at you. Really people are just not very lucid creatures, and brush against them. Since stems take hardly any pressure to detach they seem to almost jump off their mother plant to take a ride on you. In nature this is a way for them to propagate themselves (asexually). These also have wonderful flowers and are as easy to grow as the prickly pears though somewhat more difficult to transplant. I could give you common sense directions as to how to plant these creatures. However I think you all are smart enough to know just to handle them with care and caution. If not I won’t get in the way of natural Please ask any questions you may have on Opuntias in our discussion forum. selection.

 

Links:

The Cacti_etc. discussion group http://www2.labs.agilent.com/bot/cactus_home

Rivenrock Gardens, Organic cactus pads http://www.rivenrock.com/ediblecactus.htm

Rivenrick cactus recipes http://www.rivenrock.com/recipes.html

Growing cacti in warm conditions http://www.nucleus.com/~richardp/warm.html

Growing cacti in cold conditions: http://www.nucleus.com/~richardp/cold.htm

Too cold for cactus group:  http://www.theamateursdigest.com/hardy.htm

Here are some photos of a few species on the web:

Opuntia acanthocarpa
Opuntia aciculata (Chenille Prickly pear)
Opuntia aoracantha

Opuntia arbuscula
Opuntia armata
Opuntia articulata (Paperspine Cactus)
Opuntia articulata cv. diademata (Spruce Cone Cholla, Paper Spine Cactus) synonym of Opuntia diademata
Opuntia basilaris (Beaver Tail Cactus)
Opuntia bigelovii and another picture of Opuntia bigelovii

(Teddy Bear Cholla)
Opuntia boliviana
Opuntia diademata (Spruce Cone Cholla, Paper Spine Cactus)
Opuntia echios zacana
Opuntia engelmannii (Prickly pear) another picture of Opuntia engelmannii(and a third picture)
Opuntia engelmannii var.

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