Prickly Pear Collection - Opuntia Mix

Prickly Pear is abundant in the Sonoran Desert and provides interesting shapes, colors and textures to urban landscapes. The fruit and pads are food for birds, insects, and mammals such as javelina. They are drought-tolerant, frost-tolerant, and easy to plant and care for. When planted near, but not in, a water-harvesting basin they will grow quickly and provide a bounty of juicy fruits and pads.

All prickly pears love hot dry summers, need minimal water and can stand a fair amount of cold. In the Sonoran desert where this one comes from, it sails through winter frost, even an occasional snowfall, and is hardy in zones 8-11.

This mix contains: Opuntia engelmanii, aciculata, rufida, macrocentra, paraguayensis, phaeacantha, santa rita, basilaris and others. Have fun!

Scarify the hard seed coat and soak seeds for a minimum of 24 hours in warm water, you should see the seed coats puff up, or swell. Surface sow, covering with a light layer of soil. Cover pot with plastic wrap and a rubber band to keep in heat and moisture. Place in a warm, sunny location, keep soil moist, but not soaking wet. Remove plastic wrap when you have seedlings.

15 seeds