Cacti for SE England?

[Daniel]

Hi all, and guess what another "what can I grow outside" question, sorry.

Come summer I was thinking of making an outdoor bed for my plants in the garden and I was wondering what plants I could put out there, if any.

The minimum temperature this winter has been -6 Celsius but the winter temps never go really below -10 Celsius for long (say for one night or so) and max temperature in the summer is usually ~25C, I think I can grow some sedums and a K.Pumilla (sp?) and perhaps some echiveras(sp?) but what about cacti? I have an O.ficus indica which I read somewhere is hardy but I am not sure. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[hoteidoc]

See #1 Post/"Sticky" John Weiser's "Short List" in this Section, i.e. Outdoor Cactus. With those temps, you have dozens & dozens to choose from -- as long as the standard "well-drained soil". I'm sure Iann could narrow it down to 30 or so

[Peterthecactusguy]

yup, I would ask Ian, since he has a much better feel for what grows in the wet humid environment in the UK. I could name plants that are cold hardy, but they live in Arizona, so it's drier here

[Saxicola]

Ian and that new member from the UK (forget his name) would probably have the best advice on this. Obviously they need to tolerate winter lows in your area, but the other big considerations you have are that it rains a lot in the UK and it doesn't get very warm in the summer. So if you find lists on the internet or other places about cold hardy cacti (that isn't a UK specific list) make sure you take those issues into mind as well.

[Arjen]

opuntia humifusa will do great, as will escobaria vivipara and maihueniopsis darwinii
the soil REALLY needs to be well drained though

[Daniel]

Thanks for the comments, I did not realize that opuntias could be so tough!

[Arjen]

not all of them, your o. ficus indica will certainly die outside

[Daniel]

Thanks Arjen, I had a feeling that it is an indoor plant only, I just wanted to check.