You can't really see this plant very well in this photograph, but the flower is from Opuntia basilaris. This plant comes from a friend of mine who got me started with the hardy cacti. She had a whole back yard and a tiny toolshed converted into an unheated green house, filled with prickly pears and chollas. Now she is tired of getting stuck with cactus spines, and grows mostly alpines.

This plant has a smooth appearance, actually with no spines, but still has the notorious glochids of Opuntia. It has survived and done well after at least -17F outdoors. It is probably even hardier than that.

The beavertail prickly pear grows native in Nevada, Utah, California, Arizona, and Sonora (Mexico). There is a low (hot) desert form, and a high (cold) desert form. The high desert form is the hardy one, and has fat stems. The low desert form is only hardy to zone 8 (?), and has thinner, wider pads.

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