Classic blue cactus from the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts. Very low water, can handle high heat and winter cold if dry. Pink flowers. Loads of small glochids, very few spines. Will get 2 to 3 feet tall and spread 6 to 8 feet wide over time. Pads were used medicinally.
Cactus and Succulents - Part Sun
Opuntia basilaris v. caudata
Compact variety. Smaller pads than the species, often heart-shaped. Will stay as low as 1 foot tall, but will spread 4 feet wide.
Opuntia basilaris x santa-rita
Thin purple pads, red blooms; Glochids, no central spines. Low growing, sprawling
Opuntia cochenillifera
Nopalea cochenillifera
Prickly pear to 10′; low-spine, delicious edible pads
Opuntia ellisiana
O. cacanapa “Ellisiana”
Big round pads, purple-edged in full sun. Large edible reddish purple fruit. Practically spineless, including minimal glochids.
Opuntia engelmannii
Large edible fruit. Shrubby w/many pads, will sprawl to 10ft. Variable yellow to orange blooms.
Opuntia ficus-indica
Has been cultivated for centuries, probably native to Mexico. Variable habit, generally low spine.
Fast growing prickly pear, tree-like to 10ft. Large quantity of bright red edible fruit.
Opuntia ficus-indica “Burbank Spineless”
Opuntia “Burbank Spineless” is a classic edible nopales cultivated by Luther Burbank in Santa Rosa. You can tour the house! Can grow 10 to 12 feet tall. Edible fruit.
Opuntia ficus-indica “Grandma Anita’s”
Opuntia “Grandma Anita’s” must have a pretty good story behind that name. And it does! Rikki brought it up to us from her family’s homestead in Central California before she left us to go start her own cactus farm. Her great-grandmother Anita cultivated these for years, a long time ago, for the delicious fruit and they’re still growing on the property. And then there’s the story about Anita and Zorro and the pickle barrel. But you’ll have to ask Rikki about that.
Opuntia fragilis
Small stems, elliptical to round, forming mats along the ground, often found in dry grasslands.
Opuntia humifusa
O. compressa
Low growing mats/clumps of small purple tinged pads, to 12″h. Has been used medicinally and as a dye. Can handle cold and snow, will flop over, laying flat on the ground. Small gold flowers, red fruit.
Opuntia microdasys
Dotted with tiny white glochids, mounding, small pads. 1-2ft. high.
Opuntia microdasys “Alba”
Dotted with tiny white glochids, mounding, small pads. 1-2ft. high.
Opuntia microdasys “Aurea”
Dotted with tiny glochids, mounding small pads to 3ft.
Opuntia microdasys fa. monstrose “Golden Swirl”
Dotted with tiny yellow glochids, mounding small pads are curved.
Opuntia monacantha “Variegata”
O. “Maverick”
Naturally occurring variegated monstrose cactus. Tree form to 6ft, small pads harden to solid trunk.
Opuntia polyacantha
Fast growing to 2’h, prominent aureoles with 4 to 5 spines 2 to 4″ long. Variable flowers, yellow, orange and pink. Many cultivars named for the natural flower color variations.
Opuntia robusta
Tall, fast growing blue prickly pear with large round spiny pads and round red fruit. Can grow tree-like to 10ft. tall.
Opuntia robusta “Silver Dollar”
Tall, fast growing blue prickly pear with large round low-spine pads. Can grow tree-like to 10ft tall. Edible fruit.
Opuntia tuna-blanca
Tall, fast growing prickly pear; delicious fruit (tunas) creamy-white colored.
Opuntia undulata
Tall prickly pear to 10′, trunk to 12″; low-spine, edible pads/fruit
Opuntia Walk in Beauty “Apricot Glory”
Nearly spineless thick pads. Apricot to pink flowers are abundant in spring. Sprawls wide. Very cold hardy, reliable bloomer.
Opuntia x Walk In Beauty™ “Watermelon Man”
Very low water, can handle high heat and is very cold hardy if kept dry. Warm pink flowers, May thru June. Loads of small glochids, very few spines. Will get 1ft tall x 4ft wide.
Opuntia “Pinta Rita”
O. santa-rita “Pinta Rita”
Intense purple and turquiose pads, purple-red flowers.
Orbea deflersiana
Sprawling cushions of short stems to 4″ tall. Carrion flowers.
Orbea distincta
Sprawling segmented stems with protruding teeth. Large burgundy and yellow carrion flowers.
Orbea lutea ssp. vaga
6″ stems and stunning variable starfish shaped carrion flowers to 4″
Orbea schweinfurthii
Sprawling stems, many tiny carrion flowers.
Orbea variegata
Stapelia variegata
Variable, stems to 12″; speckled carrion flowers to 6″
Orbeanthus hardyi
Orbea hardyi
Low, creeping with trailing speckled stems. Grayish-green with mottled purple. Starfish-shaped carrion flowers with bowl-shaped center. Protect from frost.