#6 Echinocereus canus x russanthus – hybrid.#5 Echinocereus weedenii x russanthus – hybrid.#4 Echinocereusfendleri – Another variety with huge magenta flowers and heat tolerant.If it likes its surroundings, it will seed easily. It’s a faster-growing cactus and blooms at an early age, which can be nice as cacti are very slow-growing generally. They can be pure white to pinkish brown and grow bunches of magenta flowers. #3 Echinocereus reichenbachii – These are very showy cacti for zones 5-10 with comb-like spines and are very gardener-friendly.Another great thing is they can tolerate higher rainfall and are easy to grow. In some geographical regions, the spines can be colorful bright red and white. #2 Echinocereus viridiflorus – Zones 4-9.The “White Sands” variety for zones 5-9 has red flowers. Some of the subspecies put forth large clumps with spiny stems and some are small and nearly spineless. #1 Echinocereus triglochidiatus – can do well in zones 5-10 and has a vast array of subspecies.Cold Tolerant Desert Plants Great Plains Natives: Escobaria, Opuntia The mountains of Southern Argentina and Patagonia also host mountain, cold-hardy cacti.īecause there are 100 or more genera of cacti, I want to give you the names of the cold-hardy species so you don’t try to buy potted cacti in the grocery store and try to plant it in your garden. Many cold-hardy species are native to Mexico and North – Arizona, New Mexico, and West Texas with several of the varieties found in the western Great Plains from Oklahoma into Montana and the Dakotas.Īdditionally, there is even one that’s made its way up into the southern edge of Canada! They are found in the mountains and high plateaus of these states. Therefore, the cold is not so much of a problem for an outdoor cactus as is the moisture.Īs you will see, planting cacti in your garden can give you a beautiful maintenance-free spread with fascinating shapes and flowers (yes, flowers!). The places they are from, while very dry, are usually not warm. Keep in mind that some of these plants are native to mountainous regions in the Western hemisphere. Many varieties are used to temperatures down to zero and some much lower. It turns out that many cacti – actually succulents – are cold hardy. After all, in the not-so-distant past in this state, we’ve had winter temperatures of 10-30 degrees Fahrenheit below zero. I couldn’t imagine how this desert plant would survive here, much less thrive and look very healthy. Months ago, in my cold and rainy Michigan town, I was shocked to discover a neighbor had a cactus bed apparently thriving on the street side of their house.Ĭould this possibly be cactus, I wondered? It certainly looked like cactus: spiny lobes, low-growing. Did you know that some desert plants can survive in cold climates?
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