I know this isn't a tender cacti but I can't seem to find a forum for hardy cacti. I was wondering if anyone grows Opuntia fragilis? It's native to the northern mid west and southern parts of the Canadian prairies. I've had some in my garden now for at least 8 years and I have never seen one single flower. Does this species flower? All my other hardy cacti have flowered and in much less time than 8 years. The clump is about 16 inches in diameter and 4 to 5 inches high. If it does flower what colour are they?

Hello Brian

All species of Opuntia produce flowers.

Here pictures of Opuntia fargilis with flower in British Colombia

http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Show...

Many species of Opuntia developed a successful way of vegetative propagation. Opuntia fragilis
In some area for some species of Opuntia this is the first mechanism of multiplication. Opuntia fragilis it is in this situation in many habitat where they live.
In such habitat the population can be genetic identically and this is not favorable for sexual multiplication. That means by seeds.
I think that Int such situation it is possible they don't flower or have a rare flowering.
If it is so, capacity of flowering depend much of location from where the plants are. So for cultivated plants it is important the location from where they ancestors was colected.

Do you know the origin location of yours plants?

Opuntia fragilis live in few point in Ontario, Canada. This populations of Opuntia fragilis It is a mystery. I read that they are identical genetic and that show they was introduced in the area and was naturalized.
Some are known like Kaladar Cactus and are famous becaouse they live close to the Arctic Circle.

Here some links:

Page of Dr.Eric Ribbens an authority in the Opuntia field

http://faculty.wiu.edu/E-Ribbe...

http://faculty.wiu.edu/E-Ribbe...

http://faculty.wiu.edu/E-Ribbe...


Some interesting note here

http://dspace.hil.unb.ca:8080/... (mention about 'infrequency of flowering')

http://dspace.hil.unb.ca:8080/...

Here a very nice picture

http://holidayjunction.com/cac...

(Opuntia fragilis like many other species in the genus Opuntia have a big variability )


Here very intersting pictures (first five pictures) of Opuntia fragilis in habitat in Ontario, in one(the five picture) they have flower buds.

http://palmsnorth.com/forum/vi...


Maybe if you want to have Opuntia fragilis that blooms frequently a good idea is to get plants from locations where they bloom more regularly. But it is advisable to be form northern locations. Cold resistance of populations depends on the location of origin.

But that does not mean your plants are not interesting even if they are flowers. Even more considering the mystery of Opuntia in Ontario they can be very interesting.

Another possibility for the plants do not flower can be a lack in terms of culture. Is common in warmer areas that are not given proper rest they need winter and cacti are not flowers. But that's less interesting version


I think it would be interesting pictures of your Opuntia.
Do not worry about the word "tender" on forum name. In this case I think it reflects more the love of succulent plant lovers for their plants and not a narrow topic.

I grow it! It grows wild very close to where I live together with O. polyacantha. I also have 3 cultivars of this species at the moment: 'Tiny Spiny', 'Potato', and 'Little Grey Mound'.

Here is a link to a website with photos of O. fragilis in flower and some more general information and more links to source with more detail. They also quote E. Ribbens who is mentioned and linked to by Justin above.

https://www.opuntiads.com/opun...

I live in the desert so cannot really provide you with any specific reasons why your plant is not flowering. Sounds like it might be a plant that rarely flowers to begin with, which probably means that it is finicky about the conditions for flowering to occur, so it may be good at surviving your climate, but it may require specific conditions for flowering to occur.

Anything else I can come up with would be even deeper into the realm of speculation. Where I live, the more I pamper my opuntias the less they flower, but what constitutes pampering in my climate is probably completely different in yours.

Thanks for the info and the links. I might as well get rid of it then, my cactus garden isn't that big so I'd rather have plants that bloom.

Hi Brian,

I've always thought this forum was mis-labeled because most of us are growing hardy to someplace cactus. I have quite a few natives in my garden and there's nothing tender about them.

O. fragilis is native to about 2/3 of the U.S. and Canada - for some reason, the east coast and Ontario got left out. I think the point Justin was making is that, although O. fragilis is native to almost everywhere, there is a lot of variation within the species because of the physical barriers that divide a huge territory and so keep them separate.

Most bloom pale yellow but there is a pink variation. Usually, O. fragilis is a shy bloomer - only 1 or 2 flowers are open at any given time and they don't produce a lot of buds. If you are looking for a show, find O. polyacantha: bigger flowers, more colors and a good strong bloomer.

I'll go look for a photo and post it.

The pink Opuntia on the left is O. basilaris. It should not live this far north but I planted it against a south facing heat sink. The one in the middle is O. fragilis. This one actually blooms quite well but it is also pretty big. It did not bloom like this until it was over 10 years old. I have two pink O. fragilis that, if they have two flowers a summer, I feel lucky. But they are only about 3 - 4 years old. The orange one on the right is Echinocereus triglochidiatus.



PS: I don't think where the cactus comes from originally matters. If its cold hardy, its cold hardy. The O. basilaris spent the first 50 years of its life living first in Searchlight NV and later in Pahrump (near Las Vegas). I inherited it when my Uncle died. The Echinocereus triglochidiatus is from a nursery just outside Las Vegas. Both are doing fine in Reno.

Thank you for all the informative comments and links, people.

I'm not a big fan of including "tender" in the title of this forum. If you have any opinion on the subject, please feel free to chime in on this thread:

The thread "Cactus & "tender" succulents forum" in Site Talk forum

'Tender' is really a relative term, isn't it? Some of the cacti I grow are tender for my winter temps, but not further south. Same with the aloes. All three of those I grow survive winters outdoors in Austin, but not for me prox. 200 miles north. Since the forum covers ALL cacti and succulents regardless of what may cause them to be tender and require special steps to grow, I'd think the word was superfluous in the title. Just about anything originating from South Africa is going to be tender here and a lot of things that come with 'Alpine' as part of the description is going to be difficult - the first due to winter low temps and the second due to excessive dry summer heat.

Just my opinion. It's not important to me one way or the other.

Hi Daisyl

I have other cacti besides the O. fragilis including an Echinocereus triglochidiatus, it has more reddish flowers. O. fragilis is found in isolated pockets in Ontario though it's uncertain how they got there as there is a huge gap between them and more western colonies. My O. fragilis is about 14 years old and has never had a single flower. I'm going to dispose of it or just stick it in a pot and see what it does. Here are some of my cacti.

My O. fragilis flowered the most after I moved/transplanted them.

Brian,

That is a beautiful and lush cactus garden!

I agree, especially when I noticed where you live! Good growing!

I forgot to ask, what is the cactus that we can only see half of on the far right of the photo? It looks like Eve's Needle (Austrocylindropuntia subulata).

This was the result of moving one of my plants into a pot temporarily.

Regarding the 2018 rediscovery of Opuntia polyacantha Haw., in Ontario, Canada:

Opuntia polyacantha Haw. (Cactaceae) was previously excluded from the "Atlas of the Rare Vascular Plants of Ontario" as an unconfirmed species.

Argus, G.W., C.J. Keddy, K.M. Pryor and D.J. White. 1982-1987. Atlas of the Rare Vascular Plants of Ontario, G.W. Argus & D.J. White (eds.). National Museum of
Natural Sciences, Botany Division, Ottawa, Ont.

"Excluded species of Cactaceae / Espèces de Cactaceae exclues

J/SI - unconfirmed/situation incertaine

USI Opuntia polyacantha Haw."