Dontcha love oxymorons?

[Kelaidis]

Desert alpines: yeah sure. I guess there are some truly deserty ranges in the Great Basin where cacti are alpines. The White Mountains come to mind, where I recall Opuntia trichophora growing among the Bristlecones. Our poor mountain ball cactus, (Pediocactus: "Plains cactus" is the literal translation: get real, the munchkin ALWAYS grows on mountains), first impugned by its very Latin name, and then supposed to grow in deserts when in fact millions upon millions of these crowd the foothills and montane meadows of the Southern Rockies ONLY in relatively mesic, acid soil regions. I dote on this: and I confess it grows pretty well in my unwatered dryland gardens. But it also does well with some irrigation. I especially like to grow them in pots where they can sit for years (best to repot after five years or so I've found). They produce an amazing array of colors from deep rose reds and near purple to these shimmering Chinese jade shades like this form of "Robustior" from the Pacific Northwest I got from Mesa Gardens: not like the deep purple forms I otherwise know...it could be blooming in a month!

[Todd Boland]

We are growing Pediocactus simpsonii in our alpine house...only in Newfoundland!...talk about oxymorons!

[Jeremy]

Aw, Todd, I don't think you should be called an oxymoron just for growing cacti in Newfoundland! There's no call for that!
I had always pointedly ignored cacti and most succulents because I seemed to be involved with too much stuff already and I had to draw the line somewhere. No cacti, no roses, no annuals, no monocarps. But your photo intrigued me and I Googled Pediocactus, and High  Country Gardens had it, with further offerings labeled something like "if you like this, you'll love..." Echinocereus. I started thinking about some of the dwarfest, hardiest  varieties in  desert landscapes in my shallow troughs.  Mmmmmm...
Can you recommend a book to get me started in learning about this group?  J

[Kelaidis]

It may sound a bit funny, but really the book designed for you is "Hardy Succulents" by Gwen Moore Kelaidis, who happens to be my ex-wife. I think I can honestly say she did a better job writing this book than almost anyone else I can imagine, primarily because she didn't used to be a succulent afficionado: except for sempervivums and sedums, I hasten to add (she's always liked those). But hardy ice plant, cacti, yuccas and agaves were actually things she rather resented my insisting we include in the garden. Part of the reason I grew so many cacti in pots and troughs was because she didn't want them in the ground (she might prick her fingers you see). Over time, I saw how these plants captivated her and in her new garden she actually has quite a few cacti planted in HER PERENNIAL BORDER (how crazy is that?). In her defense, I also should admit that most of the pots and troughs I planted to cacti were of her manufacture. Gwen's book is graced with really stunning photography by Saxon Holt, one of the all time great photographers...and her writing is very beguiling and on the mark (a hallmark of her style in general). And the book is ridiculously cheap on Amazon. Bet you don't see glowing reviews like this by many exes...btw, if you are new to cacti, Echinocereus reichenbachii, Escobaria vivipara and E. sneedii var. leei are pretty much indestructible everywhere (given drainage and sun).

[Lori S.]

... and, of course, Opuntia polyacantha and O. fragilis can be added to that list (as the absolute hardiest North American species).  Those two, plus Escobaria vivipara (formerly Coryphantha vivipara, and also Mamillaria vivipara) occur across the prairie grasslands up in this neck of the woods, to rather northerly latitudes.

[RickR]

It seems Escobaria has been absorbed back into Coryphantha, according to the Flora of North America.  Escobaria still is held among cactus aficionados.  I see Laura Serowicz(sp?) Chose Coryphantha vivipara when I sent my seed in as Escobaria.

I have never had a cactus seed germinate so easily as C. vivipara.  It needs no pretreatment, and germinates well at room temperature.

[McDonough]

It seems Escobaria has been absorbed back into Coryphantha, according to the Flora of North America.  Escobaria still is held among cactus aficionados.  I see Laura Serowicz(sp?) Chose Coryphantha vivipara when I sent my seed in as Escobaria.

I have never had a cactus seed germinate so easily as C. vivipara.  It needs no pretreatment, and germinates well at room temperature.

An awesome pan of muffins there Rick!  I like the pink frosting

[RickR]

And along the line of our avatars, Mark: I kid you not. This really happened!
My cactus "ate" an Asian lady beetle.

And a small advertisement.

[McDonough]

And along the line of our avatars, Mark: I kid you not. This really happened!
My cactus "ate" an Asian lady beetle.

And a small advertisement.

 

[Jeremy]

It may sound a bit funny, but really the book designed for you is "Hardy Succulents" by Gwen Moore Kelaidis, who happens to be my ex-wife. ...btw, if you are new to cacti, Echinocereus reichenbachii, Escobaria vivipara and E. sneedii var. leei are pretty much indestructible everywhere (given drainage and sun).

PK, thanks for the advice. The book is ordered. And I'm so new to cacti that I don't have any yet! I tend to like the look of the barrel-shaped ones over the pad-shaped ones, but perhaps I just need to be educated. Good to read that some are easy from seed, as I had heard that Pediocacti aren't. I hope to use them in mixed troughs eventually. Not in the perennial border, though! 

[McDonough]

Part of the reason I grew so many cacti in pots and troughs was because she didn't want them in the ground (she might prick her fingers you see).

One of my own garden rules, is don't plant anything with thorns... I hate getting pricked by thorns.  I suppose one day when I do try hardy cactus (I want to badly), I'll have to figure out failsafe methods of weeding and blown-in leaf removal.      

[Kelaidis]

AAaaaahhh, Marko: you are revealing that you do not work in public horticulture: we who do LOVE thorns: we love plants that devour, that stab, that defend themselves. We love those especially that might prove fatal, especially to obnoxious kids who trample tender plants underfoot. We yearn for a Nettle/Amorphophallus/Dionaea cross that will be big and strong enough to swallow up and digest parents who don't discipline their children in public places. We adore agaves with long, long spines that might impale visitors who touch things they shouldn't and steal seed (or plants) without permission. We adore thistles: the nastier the better. Ones that are mounds of soild, long prickly and painful spines.  Very painful. Possibly LETHAL! Brwaaaa haaaa HAA!

[RickR]

I draw the lined with those whose thorns release and embed in your skin.  None of them for me.

Jeremy (or anyone) I still have loads of Coryphantha vivipara seed, even after I donated to the NARGS Seed Ex.  Provenance is South Dakota, near the Minnesota boarder.  They are probably the most water and humidity tolerant of any variation of the species, and so best suited for your climate.  I've discovered they are pretty much self infertile.  Insects here do visit the flowers,  but they don't seem to be very good pollinators.  Since I started hand pollinating, the berry crop is very generous.  They look scrumptious, and it seems somewhere sometime I read that Indians ate them.  But I need some solid evidence regarding their edibility before I start popping them in my mouth for a snack.  If anyone has a reference in respect to its edibility, I'd appreciate a heads up.

So if anyone would like some seed, send me your address. 

[Booker]

AAaaaahhh, Marko: you are revealing that you do not work in public horticulture: we who do LOVE thorns: we love plants that devour, that stab, that defend themselves. We love those especially that might prove fatal, especially to obnoxious kids who trample tender plants underfoot. We yearn for a Nettle/Amorphophallus/Dionaea cross that will be big and strong enough to swallow up and digest parents who don't discipline their children in public places. We adore agaves with long, long spines that might impale visitors who touch things they shouldn't and steal seed (or plants) without permission. We adore thistles: the nastier the better. Ones that are mounds of soild, long prickly and painful spines.  Very painful. Possibly LETHAL! Brwaaaa haaaa HAA!

Aciphylla plantations, Panayoti?   

[McDonough]

AAaaaahhh, Marko: you are revealing that you do not work in public horticulture: we who do LOVE thorns: we love plants that devour, that stab, that defend themselves. We love those especially that might prove fatal, especially to obnoxious kids who trample tender plants underfoot. We yearn for a Nettle/Amorphophallus/Dionaea cross that will be big and strong enough to swallow up and digest parents who don't discipline their children in public places. We adore agaves with long, long spines that might impale visitors who touch things they shouldn't and steal seed (or plants) without permission. We adore thistles: the nastier the better. Ones that are mounds of soild, long prickly and painful spines.  Very painful. Possibly LETHAL! Brwaaaa haaaa HAA!

Panayoti, I can well imagine that Nettle/Amorphophallus/Dionaea cross , although you might want to blend in some Drosera, so those who venture too close to your monstrous hybrid will actually stick to the plant and suffer slow death by amorphophallic asphyxiation.

I'm not very well travelled, but I did spend a summer in Tunisia one year during my college days.  It is common practice there to make impenetrable wall-fences by mounding clay soil very high and steep and planting the whole affair with Opuntia, the opuntias luxuriating and fruitful when grown this way.

I'm thinking of going the stinging nettle route myself, but upping the ante in an alpine inspired theme, my property surrounded with walls of steeply mounded soil densely planted with Chilean Caiophora and Loasa.
http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/FloraEnglish/HighResPages/EH0052.htm