You’d never guess these stunning flowers are from snow tolerant cacti!
Opuntia cactus flowers look like roses! You'd never know they came from a prickly plant if you saw them alone. But what's even more surprising, is these stunning succulents can also be grown in four season climates. Take a look and see if you'd be willing to grow any of these in your garden.
Grown to Perfection
In April of 2016 Waterwise Botanicals in Escondido launched a line of cold hardy cactus with some pretty incredible flowers.
Tom Jesch, the manager of Waterwise Botanicals in Southern California, is a die hard cactus lover and grew up in the Sierra Nevadas. He really knows his cacti too. It was a lot of fun to see all the different cactus varieties he's collected, including the ‘Baby Rita' which he hybridized himself.
3 Types of Cacti
Also at this event, the lovely Debra Lee Baldwin shared about her new found love of cactus, and cactus flowers. These prickly plants are slowly getting to people. They really are great!
In her talk, Debra pointed out something I hadn't thought about before (though now it seems obvious). Cactus essentially come in 3 different shapes:
- Spheres or orbs
- Columns
- Paddles
Mind blowing, right? I really hadn't ever put that together, but it's definitely true! Well, this cactus chat was focused primarily on Opuntias which are paddle cactus.
Cultivating Stunning Colors
One of the people responsible for many of these amazing Opuntias, with fantastic colored blooms, is Kelly Grummons of Cold Hardy Cactus. I had the chance to meet him and learn a little more about the cactus he's been developing.
It's really amazing what he's been able to produce hybridizing these plants! In the next few years you'll see some really amazing cactus on the market!
Snow Tolerant
The really wonderful thing about this line of Opuntias, and almost all Opuntias in general, is they are cold hardy and some are even snow tolerant. So if you live in a climate with four season, these cacti will grow well for you. I received some from Tom a few years ago and they have survived under over a foot of snow for weeks at a time.
Extreme Heat Tolerant
On the flip side, they can also tolerate pretty extreme heat and are very drought tolerant. They can go weeks without water and still look great. If you're living in a climate like most of Utah, Arizona, Nevada, etc. Opuntias are great plants for creating a waterwise garden.
Tried and True Varieties
These Prickly Pear varieties that have been released don't just have pretty blossoms. They're also selected because they're the least prone to bug infestations, produce a significant number of flowers, and tend to be forgiving with their care. Waterwise Botanicals wanted to make sure these cacti are easy to grow and beautiful to look at.
Color Changing Flowers
One of my personal favorites is Opuntia ‘Pina Colada'. This particular cactus flower is yellow with a red stripe the first day and then it turns pink on the second day. How crazy is that? Seeing dozens of these flowers on cactus all in a row is an amazing sight. Some of the paddles easily had 5-10 flowers on them!
Intense Colors
Another favorite is this Desert Skies. The pink on it is simply stunning and so vibrant. I also love how it has some hints of orange in it too. It definitely mimics the colors of a sunset. Notice how delicate the petals are too. They look almost like tissue paper. Such a contrast to the spine covered pad below it.
Prickly Party
The color of this Opuntia ‘Party Favor' was difficult to capture. It's nearly fluorescent purple and really amazing in person. This particular type of Opuntia doesn't have as many long spines, but keep your distance, as the little spots (called glochids) are full of the tiniest little spines that are extremely hard to remove from fingers.
Is Your Succulent Dying? Find Out Why
There's a number of reasons your succulent might not be looking great. Find out how to tell what's wrong with your succulent and how you can fix it or prevent it from happening again.
Expert Tips for Creating Stunning Succulent Arrangements
Figuring out which succulents to combine together to make a beautiful arrangement can be daunting. But with these tips from succulent design experts you'll be able to put together crowd-pleasing arrangements easily, whether it's in pots or in the ground.
Get more succulents for free with this simple propagation technique
One of the best things about growing succulents is how easily they propagate (grow new baby plants). Propagating succulents from leaves is extremely fun and a rewarding way to get more plants without having to buy new ones. Learning this simple technique can be quite addicting but may help keep your plant budget on track.
This article originally appeared on Succulents and Sunshine.