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The backyard cactus garden is in its 4th year (after 3 winters). The above picture shows it in its third year (2004). It is located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The foreground rockery came with the house and it slopes away from the camera. The Opuntia humifusa in the foreground is actually 5 years old and was my introduction to the outdoor dimension of the hobby. A partly obscured rock wall separates this older section from the newer addition in the background. The Agave americana medio-picta alba just past the wall is not hardy and is dug out in the fall and stored inside.
Species List
As with many perennial plants, there is no guarantee that a winter-hardy cactus will survive the winter. The degree of susceptibility varies from species to species, from winter to winter, and from garden to garden.
Plant sources include cuttings received from other winter-hardy cacti enthusiasts, and seed-grown specimens with seed obtained from other hobbyists and from Mesa Garden. A Canadian supplier of plants which has been used by colleagues in the Ottawa area this year (2005) is Beaver Creek Greenhouses. Excellent plants are well packaged. We have yet to see the results of overwintering in Ottawa of their stock in the coming winter of 2005/2006.
Top 10 List (13 actually) of varieties that ‘should' do well for gardeners in the Ottawa area:
- Opuntia arenaria
- Opuntia basilaris
- Opuntia fragilis
- Opuntia humifusa
- Opuntia phaeacantha
- Opuntia polyacantha
(Plus Opuntia hybrids & varieties of the above species)
- Opuntia whipplei (cholla type)
- Echinocereus reichenbachii baileyi
- Echinocereus reichenbachii albispinus
- Echinocereus viridiflorus
- Echinocereus triglochidiatus
- Escobaria vivipara
- Pediocactus simpsonii (difficult from seed)
Species in my Garden (June 2005)
Winter Hardy
- Echinocereus reichenbachii v albispinus
- Echinocereus reichenbachii v baileyi
- Echinocereus triglochidiatus var gonacanthus
- Echinocereus triglochidiatus v mojavensis
- Echinocereus viridiflorus
- Escobaria vivipara v. bisbeeana
- Opuntia arenaria
- Opuntia basilaris aurea
- Opuntia cymochila
- Opuntia erinacea v. Columbiana
- Opuntia fragilis (Cache Creek, BC)
- Opuntia fragilis 'Fallowfield, Nepean'
- Opuntia fragilis (Island - Lake of the Woods, ON)
- Opuntia fragilis (Kaladar, ON)
- Opuntia fragilis (Peace River)
- Opuntia fragilis (Utah)
- Opuntia humifusa
- Opuntia hybrid "Bronze Beauty"
- Opuntia hybrid "Crystal Tide"
- Opuntia hybrid "Nikolaj"
- Opuntia hybrid "Piefke"
- Opuntia hybrid "Pont"
- Opuntia hybrid "Smithwick"
- Opuntia hybrid (O. fragilis x O. polyacantha)
- Opuntia hybrid (O. fragilis x O. erinacea v. Columbiana)
- Opuntia phaeacantha camanchica
- Opuntia polyacantha (Lethbridge, AB)
- Opuntia sp. 'Alberta Pink'
- Opuntia whipplei (Crown Point, New Mexico, USA)
- Yucca glauca (don't have but it is hardy)
- Yucca filamentosa (variegated form)
Experimental
- Agave parryi (1st winter seedlings)
- Agave utahensis v eborispina (failed - trying again)
- Cylindropuntia leptocaulis (usually fails)
- Echinocereus engelmannii (3rd winter seedlings - some losses)
- Escobaria leei (2nd winter seedlings - still tiny)
- Escobaria missouriensis v caespitosa (2nd winter seedlings - still tiny)
- Escobaria sneedii (2nd winter seedlings - still tiny)
- Escobaria vivipara (Patricia, AB) (just added)
- Escobaria vivipara v rosea (2nd winter seedlings - still tiny)
- Mammillaria meiacantha (just added)
- Mammillaria wrightii (2nd winter seedlings - still tiny - larger ones are new this yr)
- Opuntia imbricata (recent mortality)
- Opuntia kleinae (struggling - new variety just added)
- Opuntia polyacantha v. hystricina (2nd winter seedlings - struggling)
- Opuntia polyacantha v. juniperiana (2nd winter seedlings - struggling)
- Opuntia rhodantha (2nd winter seedlings - struggling)
- Opuntia tortispina (2nd winter seedlings - struggling)
- Opuntia viridiflora (Santa Fe, NM, USA) (recent mortality)
- Pediocactus simpsonii (2nd winter seedlings - still tiny)
- Pediocactus simpsonii v nigrispinus (2nd winter seedlings - still tiny)
- Sclerocactus parviflorus 'contortus' (2nd winter seedlings - still tiny)
- Yucca baccata (2nd winter for one specimen - others failed - more new ones recently added)
- Yucca harrimanae (1st winter)
Not-Hardy (supplemental plants) - You can enhance your garden by including several indoor plants to be removed in the fall and stored inside. Large agaves can be simply stored dry in the basement and replanted the next spring. Here are a few tender succulents I am using:
- Agave americana medio-picta alba
- Agave macroacantha
- Agave victoriae-reginae
- Aloe ferox
- Aloe variegata.
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