Very nice. They make a lovely couple!!

It's funny because mine just bloomed today too.

{{gwi:701296}}

For such a thorny thug, it sure has beautiful flowers.

What are there names?

I have some on order from Gardens North to go into my new rock garden ;)

The yellow one is Fran and the orange one is Moe. Oh, you mean botanical names? LOL. I got them from a lady in SK years ago and I don't know for sure, but I think they are both variations of Opuntia polyacantha, although I'm pretty sure the orange one isn't "Fade to Salmon" from Gardens North because the colour does not change.

What ones did you order Sharon? I like the look of that "Crystal Tide"! Don't worry that they are shipped unrooted, they root really easily.

Laurie, yours looks just like my yellow one. The pads are so much prettier than the orange, especially when they're new.

Years ago, I used to date a Moe and he was a prick! LOL

I couldn't decide, so I ordered the OPUNTIA lovers collection (8 Pads).

A "starter" package including unrooted cuttings of the following: fragilis (3 pads), polyacantha (3 pads), rutilans (1 pad), macrorhiza (1 pad).

So when I get them in mid-summer, they will be just the cut off pad with no roots, right? Do I just stick them in the sand/mixture and they will take?

Sharon

Mine are doing well, both of them are growing new pads. Everyone is amazed that I have cactus that will overwinter here outside. Thank you very much for sending them to me. Hopefully they bloom for me soon. Will I get flowers next year or do I have to wait longer?

Syreeta

Sharon, yes just lay the pad with one whole thin edge barely buried in the soil and it will root all along the edge of the pad. So the pad is standing up vertically if that makes sense. Wow that collection will be so nice!! The pink and mulicoloured ones look really cool too.

Syreeta, so glad they are growing! I don't know if yours will flower this year. When they make buds, at first the buds all look the same but the earliest ones will form pads and any left will be flowers. The flower buds are green and have spikes too. In my pic the two things above the yellow flower and the two at the very bottom are unopened flower buds :0)

Very nice Gil, BUT NOOOOOOOOOO you are not going to enable me ....no Noo NOOOOOO.

Sierra

I have no idea as to the name of mine either. Got them a few years back from a neighbor. They've spread to almost a 3'x3' patch and I don't look forward to painting the trim around the window that it's in front of!lol

Sharon that sounds like it'll be an awesome collection you'll have. It is amazing how well they root. In all the pads that I've given away, I think I only had one that didn't root and that's with people putting them just into ordinary garden soil.

Syreeta, if I remember correctly, I think it did take a couple of years for mine to flower. But once they get established you'll have lots of flowers.

Holy man you guys...I am amazed too that cactus will overwinter here..or there actually!

Now where could I make and place a hypertufa to fill with these spiny little critters....LOL...no, I am not even going to consider it!

3'x3', ouch, I didn't realize they would spread that much, I might have to expand out the bed now ;)

Gil, thanks for the planting instructions, can't wait for them to arrive!

Sharon

Sharon, I got that collection last year. All rooted well. Unfortunately not all survived. 3 Fragilis and 2 of the 3 polyacantha wintered okay (I don't know what happened with the 3rd one, it's right next to the other 2 which are okay so I'm not gonna chalk that up to winterkill). They're not blooming, but they are forming new pads. I think I'm going to make another couple hypertufa and move mine, as well. Ouch, they really hurt when you touch one by mistake (like I just did out there looking for a blasted marker). Of the other two, they just never popped back up after winter - just stayed withered and eventually dried up. I am chalking those 2 up to winter kill.

Downer Pudge, I'll mulch them with dry straw to protect them in their first winter if that will help any?

Sharon

Sierra, when the ones Gil sent me are big enough I'll give you some.

I took a closer look at the new buttons and one looks like it might be a flower. (Fingers crossed!)

Syreeta

We used to love picking the blossoms when we were kids, down in the Red Deer River valley. The prickly pear there are all yellow. Now that's a trick, picking them without poking yourself. They looked great floating in a bowl of water. My MIL had a patch of prickly pear to keep the dogs out of her flower bed. I got rid of them because I had visions of my kids tripping on the sidewalk and landing in them.

Connie

Can't say that I've been brave enough to even try picking them Connie! But, yes, I can see that they would look very pretty floating. Keeping the dog out of the flowerbed was my main reason for getting them in the beginning too. When I first got them, I didn't even realize that they bloomed.