I rescued this plant, and another one like it planted in the ground, from HQ. Well, it was doing just fine there, but I like to turn their advertising slogan around. This plant was grown at Sorensen's in Ruthven, Ontario, Canada. They sell to most of the big stores in this area, and they have a great selection of superior plants. Our local cactus club makes an annual pilgramage to Sorensen's to browse through several acres of greenhouses filled with 1 1/2 inch potted cacti and succulents. We often find oddities, mutants, and plants of unsurpassed beauty among the average ones.

UPDATE March 25, 2001. The plant in the pot and the one in the ground looked as good as ever when I checked them.

Echinocereus coccineus is native to Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico (Del Weniger, Cacti of Texas and Neighboring States, University of Austin Press, Austin, TX, 1991). The same book has a picture of Echinocereus triglochidiatus var. octacanthus, which looks a lot like my plant, which Sorensen's labelled E. coccineus var. paucispinus. E. coccineus may just be a variety of E. triglochidiatus.

Click here or on the picture above to read how I grow this plant.