I'm not sure if this is the right spot to post this (this is my first post), but i was wondering if anyone knew of any cacti hardy to approximately -20ºF. I'm in central Minnesota, and i've got a bit of a collection in my yard already (Opuntia fragilis, O. humifusa (several varieties), Escobaria missouriensis, E. leei, Pediocactus simpsonii var. minor, Echinocerus triglochidiatus, Echinocerus triglochidiatus var. Inermis, Echinocerus triglochidiatus var White Sands, Echinocerus virdiflorus, and possibly one or two others, plus an agave and a yucca for good measure).
Most of these are new, with the exception of the opuntias, and the Echinocerus var. Inermis. Most of those have been around for about 5 years now and have proven themselves quite hardy. If anyone knows of any other moisture/cold tolerant cacti, I'd love to hear from you, or if you have any questions about growing cacti outdoors in a cold climate, i'd be more than happy to share everything I know.
Extremely Cold Hardy Cacti
There might be some ideas here: http://www.bennyskaktus.dk/myplants_UK.htm
Escobaria (Coryphantha) vivipara and Opuntia polyacantha grow into Canada so you should try them. With polyacantha you have a vast range a flower colors to chose from.
Some forms of Echinocereus reichenbachii should make it there. I think v. baileyi is one form that is quite hardy for cold/wet. v. caspetosa and perbellus are ones you could try too.
There are more Opuntias that are likely hardy for your area like: aurea, cymochila, mackensenii, macrorhiza, phaeacantha. Plus theres a bunch of Hybrids out there that are very hardy.
Some forms of Echinocereus reichenbachii should make it there. I think v. baileyi is one form that is quite hardy for cold/wet. v. caspetosa and perbellus are ones you could try too.
There are more Opuntias that are likely hardy for your area like: aurea, cymochila, mackensenii, macrorhiza, phaeacantha. Plus theres a bunch of Hybrids out there that are very hardy.
Last edited by Andy_CT on Sun Mar 25, 2012 1:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
here is a rough list of plants that are cold hardy here in eastern Colorado (zone 5b). there are some diplicates on the list, bit I think you get the idea. i havent had time to go thru and edit it yet, everytime I come across a plant that is listed as hardy here, I paste it into the list.
Coryphantha arizonica
Coryphantha vivipara
Echinocactus texensis
Echinocereus baileyi
Echinocereus coccineus
Echinocereus davisii
Echinocereus enneacanthus
Echinocereus fendleri
Echinocereus knippelianus
Echinocereus reichenbachii v. caespitosus
Echinocereus triglochidiatus v. mohavensis
Echinocereus triglochidiatus v. inermis
Echinocereus triglochidiatus v. inermis
Echinocereus viereckii
Echinocereus viridiflorus
Echinomastus intertextus
Epithelantha micromeris
Escobaria leei
Escobaria organensis
Escobaria hesteri
Escobaria minima
Escobaria orcuttii
Escobaria sneedii
Escobaria sneedii var. sneedii
Escobaria sneedii var. leei
Escobaria missouriensis
Hamatocactus bicolor
Mammillaria wrightii
Maihueniopsis darwinii
Opuntia arenaria
Opuntia aurea
Opuntia basilaris
Opuntia clavata
Opuntia cymochila
Opuntia davisii
Opuntia erinacea
Opuntia fragilis
Opuntia heacockii
Opuntia imbricata v. arborescens
Opuntia imbricata v. viridiflora
Opuntia kleiniae
Opuntia leptocaulis
Opuntia phaeacantha
Opuntia polyacantha
Opuntia rhodantha
Opuntia rutila
Opuntia whipplei
Pediocactus nigrispina
Pediocactus simpsonii
Sclerocactus parviflorus
Sclerocactus spinosior
Cold hardy succulents
Agave harvardiana
Agave Parryi
Euphorbia clavarioides
Fouquieria splendens
Hesperaloe parviflora
Yucca angustifolia
Yucca baccata
Yucca faxoniana
Yucca filamentosa
Yucca glauca
Yucca harrimanae
Yucca thompsoniana
and here are a few links:
http://www.coldhardycactus.com/index.htm -- This is kelly grummons site, a great guy
http://hometown.aol.com/fitzroya/kachina.html -- a link to a zeris garden in Colorado Springs, CO.
best regards,
mendel
Coryphantha arizonica
Coryphantha vivipara
Echinocactus texensis
Echinocereus baileyi
Echinocereus coccineus
Echinocereus davisii
Echinocereus enneacanthus
Echinocereus fendleri
Echinocereus knippelianus
Echinocereus reichenbachii v. caespitosus
Echinocereus triglochidiatus v. mohavensis
Echinocereus triglochidiatus v. inermis
Echinocereus triglochidiatus v. inermis
Echinocereus viereckii
Echinocereus viridiflorus
Echinomastus intertextus
Epithelantha micromeris
Escobaria leei
Escobaria organensis
Escobaria hesteri
Escobaria minima
Escobaria orcuttii
Escobaria sneedii
Escobaria sneedii var. sneedii
Escobaria sneedii var. leei
Escobaria missouriensis
Hamatocactus bicolor
Mammillaria wrightii
Maihueniopsis darwinii
Opuntia arenaria
Opuntia aurea
Opuntia basilaris
Opuntia clavata
Opuntia cymochila
Opuntia davisii
Opuntia erinacea
Opuntia fragilis
Opuntia heacockii
Opuntia imbricata v. arborescens
Opuntia imbricata v. viridiflora
Opuntia kleiniae
Opuntia leptocaulis
Opuntia phaeacantha
Opuntia polyacantha
Opuntia rhodantha
Opuntia rutila
Opuntia whipplei
Pediocactus nigrispina
Pediocactus simpsonii
Sclerocactus parviflorus
Sclerocactus spinosior
Cold hardy succulents
Agave harvardiana
Agave Parryi
Euphorbia clavarioides
Fouquieria splendens
Hesperaloe parviflora
Yucca angustifolia
Yucca baccata
Yucca faxoniana
Yucca filamentosa
Yucca glauca
Yucca harrimanae
Yucca thompsoniana
and here are a few links:
http://www.coldhardycactus.com/index.htm -- This is kelly grummons site, a great guy
http://hometown.aol.com/fitzroya/kachina.html -- a link to a zeris garden in Colorado Springs, CO.
best regards,
mendel
Hi Tom- this is excellent info in this thread. Were your plants ordered from High Country Gardens? I used to work there, just curious.
Cold hardy is one thing, but to -20F may in fact be something of a shorter list. These are probably very hard frosts with daytime temps also often not above freezing or, if so, not by much. Under these conditions, the mix of cold and wet will turn even quite frost hardy cacti, such as perhaps E. baileyi, to mush. The trick is to provide some protection from excess moisture. If you can keep a lot of the plants on the "cold Hardy" lists quite dry, they can take -20F nights and 30F days. Even so, if this is the situation for days on end, some quite tough plants may give up the ghost if they are wet.
peterb
Cold hardy is one thing, but to -20F may in fact be something of a shorter list. These are probably very hard frosts with daytime temps also often not above freezing or, if so, not by much. Under these conditions, the mix of cold and wet will turn even quite frost hardy cacti, such as perhaps E. baileyi, to mush. The trick is to provide some protection from excess moisture. If you can keep a lot of the plants on the "cold Hardy" lists quite dry, they can take -20F nights and 30F days. Even so, if this is the situation for days on end, some quite tough plants may give up the ghost if they are wet.
peterb
Zone 9
peterb wrote:Hi Tom- this is excellent info in this thread. Were your plants ordered from High Country Gardens? I used to work there, just curious.
Cold hardy is one thing, but to -20F may in fact be something of a shorter list. These are probably very hard frosts with daytime temps also often not above freezing or, if so, not by much. Under these conditions, the mix of cold and wet will turn even quite frost hardy cacti, such as perhaps E. baileyi, to mush. The trick is to provide some protection from excess moisture. If you can keep a lot of the plants on the "cold Hardy" lists quite dry, they can take -20F nights and 30F days. Even so, if this is the situation for days on end, some quite tough plants may give up the ghost if they are wet.
peterb
Yep, the new cacti are from high country gardens, all the older ones are from the greenhouse I work at. The cacti are planted on a slope that ends in a retaining wall, and the soil below them is a 6 foot column of nearly pure sand with a small amount of organic matter, so it is extremely well drained. In the winter we're lucky if we get above 0ºF for a few days, very rarely does it get above freezing. I guess I'll have to report this spring about what all makes it.
Would be interesting to hear your results. I'm a cold hardy grower myself living in the KC area which is zone 5.
You will find as I have alot of trial and error come into play with the word "hardy" such as Peterb has mentioned such as moisture and such.
I too have the biggest part of my hardy's located on a terrace to assist with drainage. You'll find that the hardiest will be opuntia and cylindropuntia.
You will find as I have alot of trial and error come into play with the word "hardy" such as Peterb has mentioned such as moisture and such.
I too have the biggest part of my hardy's located on a terrace to assist with drainage. You'll find that the hardiest will be opuntia and cylindropuntia.
Bill
If it sticks ya or pokes ya, I like it
If it sticks ya or pokes ya, I like it
I thought I'd post a before and after picture of my new cactus garden i started this year. I started this new one because my old one was 1) getting shaded over and 2) i needed more room for more plants!
Before:
You can see there was a large number of daylilies and a whole lot of weeds. There are also two opuntias that i moved a two years ago to see what they'd do, and the flourished (each putting out 3-5 new pads, whereas in my other site they put out 1 pad a year).
After:
I put in a ton of rock, moved some things around and added my cacti. The petunias are only there because my neighbor planted them this spring, and i didn't have the heart to rip them out. But next year i'll probably put a creeping sedum or something. If I can find them i'll post pictured of the individual plants. The big green bushy thing in front is a Massachusetts Kinikinick. You can also see some of the opuntias, but most of the other cacti are very tiny still.
Before:
You can see there was a large number of daylilies and a whole lot of weeds. There are also two opuntias that i moved a two years ago to see what they'd do, and the flourished (each putting out 3-5 new pads, whereas in my other site they put out 1 pad a year).
After:
I put in a ton of rock, moved some things around and added my cacti. The petunias are only there because my neighbor planted them this spring, and i didn't have the heart to rip them out. But next year i'll probably put a creeping sedum or something. If I can find them i'll post pictured of the individual plants. The big green bushy thing in front is a Massachusetts Kinikinick. You can also see some of the opuntias, but most of the other cacti are very tiny still.
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CoronaCactus
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Kinnikinick is actually a little shrubby plant in the ericaceae family, although when looking it up i did find reference to kinnikinick being a native american word for a group of tobacco substitutespeterb wrote:wow, Tom looks great, what a lot of work! Kinikinik is tobacco, right? smokin!
thanks for sharing what's obviously a labor of love.
peterb
oh yeah, i'm glad you guys like the garden, it certainly is a labor of love, everyone at the local greenhouse thinks i'm crazy (but they might be right?)
The transformation looks good Tom. Don't worry about being crazy cause we're all right there with ya 
I've litterally turned my whole frontyard into a rock garden over the years and I'm enjoying it plus no more grass to mow
Heres a couple shots and yes thats a 1400 gallon koi pond
My cacti go dormant during the winter and so does the fish
I've litterally turned my whole frontyard into a rock garden over the years and I'm enjoying it plus no more grass to mow
Heres a couple shots and yes thats a 1400 gallon koi pond
My cacti go dormant during the winter and so does the fish
Bill
If it sticks ya or pokes ya, I like it
If it sticks ya or pokes ya, I like it