Prickly Pear cactus (Opuntia species)
Prickly Pear are wonderful, drought tolerant plants being very productive of delicious fruit and pads which are used as a vegetable called nopales. Beautiful in the landscape with their sturdy green pads, they also have abundant colorful showy flowers in the spring followed by the equally attractive fruits. They are adaptable to a variety of climates and soil conditions. All the varieties we offer have been trialed in our Northern CA gardens and have been selected for above average cold and rain tolerance. Hardy zones 8-10.
We are very excited to make available our extensive one of a kind collection of superior varieties. Our "Desert" series all came from the drylands germplasm repository in Parlier, CA. Special thanks goes to Gabriela Romano who shared her list of best varieties from trials she did some years ago. All the varieties of this series were previously un-named and only had a Parl number and very little info on their edible qualities. It was an honor to have Gabriela share her research with us, enabling the recognition and distribution of these exceptional high quality varieties to the public.
We send a cut and calloused 3" square piece of pad for rooting. Lay them flat on top of a potting soil filled container and keep well watered. They will send out roots quickly from the bottom of the pad section, with one or more vegetative shoots arising from the top of the pad piece over the next few months. When fully rooted and establish they can be planted out by burying the original pad piece and the very bottom of the new pad growth in the soil. This way it will root from the new upright growth too giving a strong rooted start.
Prickly Pear Cactus
Burbank Spineless Prickly Pear Cutting
Huge thick spineless pads on a tall upright plant. Luther ...
Desert Apple Cutting
Truly amazing large orange, red and green blushed fruit has ...
Desert Blush Cutting
Another large red, orange and green blushed fruit donated ...
Desert Delight Prickly Pear Cutting
Very heavy producer of sweet red-pink fruits. Showy ...
Desert Dream Prickly Pear Cutting
A Blanca type Opuntia ficus-indica from Mexico. Sweet, ...
Desert Glow Prickly Pear Cutting
Heavy producer of large yellow blushed orange sweet fruits. ...
Desert Gold Prickly Pear Cutting
Large sturdy thick pads have attractive long showy spines. ...
Desert Green Prickly Pear Cutting
A cold hardy forage and vegetable variety from Peter ...
Desert Love Cutting
Donated to the National Arid Land Plant Genetic Resource ...
Desert Oasis Cutting
Another cold hardy forage, vegetable and fruiting variety ...
Desert Peach Prickly Pear Cutting
A sturdy thick padded variety that has long showy thorns ...
Desert Romance Prickly Pear Cutting
Stunning orange-red flowers are followed by deep red-purple ...
Desert Sunrise Prickly Pear Cutting
Beautiful yellow-green fruit has a soft pink blush and has ...
Desert Sunset Prickly Pear Cutting
Large beautiful red, orange and pink colored fruit has ...
Reina Prickly Pear Cutting
Beautiful bright red-purple fruits are sweet and are ...
Saffir Select Prickly Pear Cutting
Medium-large sweet and tasty purple fruit are copiously ...
Salinas Gold Prickly Pear Cutting
Beautifu, juicyl and delicious golden sweet fruit on a ...
Tower of San Marcos Cutting
Large vigorous upright plant has solid spiny pads and ...