One reason that I'm asking is because I'm not sure what to go for next. This year I may try to get some hardy Echinopsis and Echinocereus plants that can stay out all year around, but otherwise I'm a bit stumped.
So, what do you think everyone should own? What forms the core or perhaps just the start of a collection? My suggestions would be:
Lophophora williamsii - small, spineless, slow growing, one of the more forgiving of taprooted cacti and a good introduction to them.
Schlumbergera x buckleyi - tough, easy to keep and flower which it does during the darkest part of the year.
Rebutia heliosa - small but will cover itself with large red-orange flowers. I find the white spined variant more attractive.
Mammillaria zeilmanniana - covered with horrible hooked spines that try to attach the cactus to everything, but makes up for it by one of the longest flowering seasons of any cactus. Very forgiving in terms of growing environment.
Astrophytum asterias - Another slow growing spineless cactus, starts off small. Big yellow flowers, which it can put out several times a year.
Maybe Mammillaria prolifera even though I don't have one myself.
Probably some kind of Parodia/Notocactus but I'm not sure which one.
A Gymnocalycium, probably baldianum
Thanks
