3 Spineless Prickly Pear Cactus Pads (Opuntia cacanapa 'Ellisiana') Beautiful and Cold-Hardy Native Cactus for the Eastern US! Easy to Grow!

Many people are stunned to find cactus growing in the eastern U.S., but there are a number of Prickly Pear species (Opuntia spp.) that adapt quite well to our wet, cold winters (it's typically the wet part that causes most cacti to rot in the east, not the cold!). The Spineless Ellisiana Prickly Pear is one of the tallest and most beautiful of this hardy genus. While it (mostly) lacks the long spiky needles common to these cactus varieties, they do possess wicked little spikes at each of the 'dots' on the surface of the pads (called glochids), so caution is required when handling them! Use tongs, heavy gloves, or heavy cardboard to handle them. While you can set them upright and bury them by about a third to root, they do not require any special treatment and can just be thrown on the ground and they will set roots and grow!! Full sun with sandy, rocky, or other well-drained soil is ideal.

Following weeks of gorgeous yellow blooms, pollinated flower pods turn pink to red and are a quite showy fruit. As many know, Prickly Pear fruits and pads are edible, however, extreme care must be taken to remove all of the spikes and hairy glochids before consuming. Details can be found elsewhere online.

This offer is for 3 unrooted Spineless Prickly Pear Cactus pads.