Vermont Cold-Hardy, 2015

[fanaticactus]

We're off to a late start due to another l-o-n-g cold Winter way up here along the 45-degree latitude. Although it's depressing at present, it's always good to have an idea of where I started from this year. The Cylindropuntias look terrible--brown without even a hint of green. The O. humifusa hybrids/caespitosa look just about dead, similar to last Spring but worse I think. The O. polyacanthas actually look good; they've proven to be the winners so far in past years. The young Echinocereus varieties and my one Escobaria appear to have survived, but it's too early to show any growth. The O. fragilis seem OK and are spreading because they constantly break off. Many of their roots are now visible. Should I (carefully) try to replant them with the roots in the soil, or will they be fine like they are? At least the Semps all look great! Today was the start of a week or so of some predicted 70-degree weather, so I'm hoping I'll see some signs of waking up and growing.

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[A. Dean Stock]

I'd cover the roots or possibly replant those O. fragilis that have the root sticking out. They may be ok the way they are but I'd cover them if they were mine. They look good, as does the O. polyacantha, especially as early as it is but then both species are pretty tough.
Dean

[fanaticactus]

Thank you, Dean. I shall do that Tomorrow I should have time to do that. If you recommend it, consider it done. I always heed the advice of experienced Cactus Masters!

[fanaticactus]

A couple of days ago I repositioned the O. fragilis so that it's roots aren't on top of the ground. I also spread a few of its knocked-off pads to other parts of the garden. The recent warm, sunny weather has encouraged the fuzzy beginning of a bud on one Echinocereus to show up and two buds on another. The O. polyacantha has begun sprouting all over their pads; I think this was the 'North Dakota' variety with creamy pale yellow outer petals and a light peachy-orange center. It's done so well here, I want to add one or two more varieties with different colored blooms. The one tiny Escobaria that survived the winter has begun to plump up nicely, but it may be too young still to produce a flower this year.

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[fanaticactus]

Today I'm posting some photos of seedlings (all Echinocereus) that have wintered-over, hoping that some IDs can be confirmed. I am posting in this section because they are smaller and may appear different planted in the garden instead of a pot. The member who sent them over the past few years doesn't seem to be registered anymore--at least the name is not recognized in the Personal Message section. The first two I'm fairly sure are E. baileyi; they are both currently budding and characterized by slightly reddish, shaggy spines, although the one in the foreground seems to have fewer radial spines.

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. I know he also sent one or two E. perbellus. This looks different, so could it be one? The spines are noticeably shorter and whiter.

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The next is, I think, two years older than the budded ones and, judging by its appearance is also an E. baileyi. But it has never bloomed, even though it has a more mature look.

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. The last one I'm not sure of; it has a grayer appearance than the others and has already branched at the base. It, too, has never bloomed.

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[hegar]

I did not know, that you are actually growing cold-hardy cacti outdoors in Vermont. To me most of them look like Echinocereus spp., with the image underneath the E. baileyi being E. viridiflorus. To me the biggest problem you may encounter would be getting the roots wet for a longer time period during the cold part of the year, which would probably lead to root rot. Do you have some kind of awn to keep the rain and snow from saturating the soil?
It looks like you did plant your cacti in a raised bed that was amended with a lot of gravel, in order to increase the drainage.
I hope, that you will get to see a few flowers on your plants within the next month or so.

Harald

[fanaticactus]

The larger ones have been in the ground already for four winters. I even put some barely matured seedlings in last summer and I think I lost only one. I made sure the soil mix had a lot of sand and gravel in it and tried to slope it just enough to have it drain sufficiently. They are on the south side of a shed and quite close to it with a few larger rocks acting as additional 'windbreaks'. The sun shines on that garden practically all day and it can get very hot in the middle of summer. In the winter of course it still gets sun all day, except the days are much shorter. They seem to have done OK keeping their roots with any rain we get, and in the winter the snow cover insulates them well until late in the season. The real enemy is the wind we have a lot of the time. It comes either straight up the Champlain Valley from the south (our prevailing summer wind) or from the north down the Valley from Canada and can whip right through that area if it's just a bit northeast or northwest. Then it can sneak past the edges of the shed. But so far, so good. I've even got a second garden started to the left of the larger one and will soon have a small garden over on the south side of the house itself. That one should be very protected by the house, as it will be right up against the foundation.

[Andy_CT]

They're all various clones of E. baileyi except the short spine one which is E. perbellus.

[fanaticactus]

They're all various clones of E. baileyi except the short spine one which is E. perbellus.

Thanks, Andy. I couldn't send you a PM because it didn't recognize your user name. I can't figure why the older Echinocereus haven't bloomed yet. I'm really looking forward to the year when all of them will have flowers at the same time, or at least in quick succession. The one that's doing incredibly well is the O. polyacantha 'North Dakota'. It's already got some nice buds on it. And, like you said, the O. fragilis (and all its broken-off segments) are looking much better now at the beginning of its third year. Probably no flowers, but a lot of nice growth.

[fanaticactus]

Last weekend we held a garage sale & as folks arrived they had to walk past the cactus garden. Almost all of them expressed surprise that this was a permanent year-round garden and that there are cacti that can withstand the very cold Vermont winters. I briefly explained how Nature allows them to. I said almost anyone with a sunny protected spot and gravelly soil can raise them, especially the Opuntia polyacantha species. So I hope I might have interested one or two of them to try an in-ground cactus or two. One of my neighbors admired the varieties of Semps I have, so I gave her some offsets to take home. We've had a string of cool, showery days and some very heavy rain but also some very sunny, warm days with no humidity. I think that's why the garden looks so good this year. I just wish more of my Echinocereus would bloom. Here are some general views of their habitat shared with iris and some closeups showing details of new growth and buds.

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This is my Garden #2 already begun with some Opuntia species and plenty of room for some new columnar or clumping Echinocereus or Escobaria after I 'sculpt' it a bit more for drainage and eye appeal.

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[MrPintxo]

Nice garden.
How deep are those beds?

[fanaticactus]

Nice garden.
How deep are those beds?

Thanks! The beds are not very deep at all--less than a foot. Probably more like 6 inches or so. The problems are that the previous owners went bonkers with that awful black plastic stuff to 'prevent' weed growth. It doesn't work! The whole area, even under part of the lawn is covered with it. Secondly, most of the property is built on splintered shale (a major component around Lake Champlain), and that makes digging to any appreciable depth a herculean and exhausting task. On the other hand, it provides very good drainage for the roots.

[fanaticactus]

The first O. polyacantha flowers of the season plus a stalk of Sempervivum blossoms. The last photo shows the peaceful coexistence of cacti and succulents with a clematis vine, irises and peonies.

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[toadstar]

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That looks awesome.

[fanaticactus]

Now that the growing season is almost over--maybe a bit more than a month of growth before our first cold snap--I finally got the gardens arranged the way I want them. I wish I could mound them more, but the foundations of the house and the shed make that somewhat impractical. I did slope them as much as I could and section them off to provide little areas to accommodate new plants. I was finally able to weed the original garden, so I definitely wanted to post a photo of the 'clean' look. If you scroll quickly from the beginning of the post, you'll see the amount of growth that took place this summer. This summer was basically warm and sunny but with a lot of showers almost weekly. We're now having our first 'official' heat wave this week, so I hope the cacti will take advantage of this last bit of hot weather for their final growth. I've added more specimens from two mail order places. Some are already planted and I expect a few more to arrive this week to fill in the gaps. They're a combination of Opuntia, Echinocereus, Cory/Escobar & Pediocactus. When all of them are planted, I'll be giving the three gardens a more finished look with a thin layer of gravel.

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