I started some cacti from pads last spring and was pretty excited when they survived the winter unscathed. I’m even more excitrd to see one flowering this year. I have ten or so growing. All supposedly make good fruits. I ordered from coldhardycactus.com. Is anyone else growing these type of cacti?
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Wow,
Did the snow insulate them? How cold was Winter?
Tony
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Some prickly pear cactus can survive down to like 5A so this does not surprise me.
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Nice looking cactus! They grow great here. You might look at this old post I did from back in 2015 Prickly Pear Cactus
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It was a fairly mild winter here. I think our low was -1.6 or something. But these were in pots outside and unprotected for the winter and then planted in ground this spring. Do you like cactus fruit, Tony?
Thanks for the reminder, Clark.
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In our neighborhood we have a bed of similar cactuses surrounded by lava rocks. The patch looks as it is old and I know it for several years. The flowers are yellow. It is often not covered by snow during the winter. I considered asking a piece to plant, but the thorns stopped me. Very cool looking plants and tough too.
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Sounds good. Do they produce edible fruit? I’ve also heard you can eat the pads, but I don’t know much about that.
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I do not know if they have anything eatable, they are not mine. But they look similar like in @clarkinks post.
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My aunt lived in LA and sent lots of Dragon fruits. They taste good on salads. I have not try the cactus fruits or pads yet but willing to try.
Tony
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I’ll send you some pads this winter if you want. They root very easily.
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@Antmary,
They have thornless cold hardy cactus available as well. I bought some from ebay once and eventually are them all but they grew great.
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Thank you. I have a part of the lawn closer to the road that gets very dry in summer and grass often die there. I am thinking to put succulent plants in this place.
Thornless sounds better, I’ll look at it. I am afraid that rabbits will like it a lot. 
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Steven,
I would love to try some. Thanks for offering.
Tony
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Prickly pear cactus as far as I know all have edible fruit, yet some is more likable than others, some found in Mexico are supposedly incredible. I myself do not care for the fruit of any of the ones that I have tried.
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They can be hit and miss but when you get good ones like many of the ones I’ve had this year they are excellent Nopal fruit - $1 - #12 by lordkiwi. Many are not that great. When I pick mine out I look for darker color good fruits like the ones I’ve had that were good historically.
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Here’s an interesting article, of course I have no idea how cold hardy they are
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Not too far from me, prickly pear cactus grow wild, at 52 degrees North latitude – the species is Opuntia polyacantha, and they grow wild in zone 3. There is an even hardier species (Opuntia fragilis?) that grows several hundred miles further north, in the Peace River region. Supposedly the fruits of both are edible and tasty, though I’ve never tried them myself. Here are some wild O. polyacantha, photographed by me a week or so ago.
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I grow them in the garden. In our wet climate, I plant them in a raised pile of gravel. It works. They are especially good for people with diabetes. I like to chop them up. In Mexico they eat them often like we eat green beans. They can be a bit slimy, so I steam them rather than boil them for a long time.
John S
PDX OR
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Did the thornless ones still have the prickly hairs? What about the fruits themselves?
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From my experience, many of the thornless ones have the little prickly hairs. I only got one fruit or two I think. I use one of those plastic green brillo pads on them and it works great. Just keep it separate from your other ones or you will anger your spouse!
John S
PDX OR
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