Hardy Cactus and Succulents at Hawaiian Botanicals


Preface Hardy desert plants are featured in a variety of gardening and landscaping styles, and are particularly well-suited to container gardening. Mediterranean, Moroccan, and Southwest styles all feature desert or drought-tolerant plants. Desert plants such as Agaves blend well with sub-tropical plants and can add distinctive textures to the sub-tropical garden. One advantage hardy desert plants offer is their ability to over-winter in a cold, dry, unheated greenhouse. Winter preparation of the sub-tropical garden can be a fairly arduous and time-consuming task, involving wrapping of some species and moving non-hardy species into a heated greenhouse. Containerized desert plants, on the other hand, only need to moved under an overhang as protection from winter rains. Desert plants in the garden can also be protected from the rain with a rough cold-frame. Site preparation is critical when featuring desert plants in a garden setting, particularly in the Pacific northwest, due to our heavy winter rains. A common technique involves building low crushed gravel mounds into which the desert species are planted, in order to ensure adequate drainage around the plants' roots.

Agave species Common Name: Hardy Agave Description: Various cold hardy species. Hardiness: Zone 7 - 8 Price: Plants are not yet in stock. Should be available by mid-April 2006.

Dasylirion wheeleri Common Name: Sotol Description: Spiny, bluish-green, blade-shaped leaves. Yucca-like appearance. Hardiness: Zone 7 Price: $50.00 (10 inch pot, 3 ft - 4 ft tall)

Opuntia engelmanii var. linguiformis Common Name: Prickly Pear Description: A large, upright Opuntia species with elongated pads. Hardiness: Zone 7 Price: $20.00 (1 gallon pot)

Opuntia imbricata Common Name: Tree Cholla Description: A tree-like, trunk-forming cactus with cylindrical branches. Hardiness: Zone 5 Price: $15.00 (1 gallon pot, 2 ft tall)

Opuntia phaeacantha Common Name: Brown-Spined Prickly Pear, Sprawling Prickly Pear Description: A scrambling Opuntia species with small pads. Hardiness: Zone 5 Price: $20.00 (1 gallon pot)

Opuntia polyacantha var. erinacea Common Name: Grizzly Bear Prickly Pear Description: A medium-sized Opuntia species covered in long white spines. Hardiness: Zone 5 Price: $20.00 (1 gallon pot)

Opuntia Species: Zig Zag form, unidentified. Possibly Opuntia ficus-indica Common Name: Zig Zag Prickly Pear Description: An almost spineless variety of Opuntia with elongated upright pads. Hardiness: Zone 5 Price: $20.00 (1 gallon pot)

Sempervivum (various species & hybrids) Common Name: Hens and Chickens Description: Small, clumping rosette-shaped succulents with colourful leaves. Hardiness: Zone 6 Price: $3.50 (4 inch pot)

Yucca brevifolia Common Name: Joshua Tree Description: Branching, tree-like appearance with short narrow green leaves. Hardiness: Zone 7 Price: $5.00 (3.5 inch pot) *Seed grown. Small plants available by May 2006.

Yucca elata Common Name: Soaptree Yucca Description: Tree-like species with narrow blue-green leaves. Edible flowers. Hardiness: Zone 6 Price: $5.00 (3.5 inch pot) *Seed grown. Small plants available by May 2006.

Yucca filamentosa Common Name: Adam's Needle Description: Stemless rosette-forming species. Narrow blue-green leaves. Hardiness: Zone 7 Price: $5.00 (3.5 inch pot) *Seed grown. Small plants available by May 2006.

Yucca glauca Common Name: Plains Yucca Description: Very hardy rosette-forming species with extremely narrow leaves. Hardiness: Zone 4 Price: $5.00 (3.5 inch pot) *Seed grown. Small plants available by May 2006.

Yucca torreyi Common Name: Spanish Dagger Description: Trunk-forming Yucca, often unbranched. Narrow olive-green leaves. Hardiness: Zone 7 Price: $5.00 (3.5 inch pot) *Seed grown. Small plants available by May 2006.

Yucca whipplei Common Name: Our Lord's Candle Description: Matures into a sphere-like rosette of gray-green narrow leaves. Hardiness: Zone 8 Price: $5.00 (3.5 inch pot) *Seed grown. Small plants available by May 2006.

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