7 February 2009
Outdoor plants versus cold snap
Posted by Stuart under: Cacti .
Although one never necessarily wants cold weather to come along and polish off perfectly healthy plants, the snow this past week has proved very useful in putting to the test some of the opuntioideae that I grow in the garden all year round without protection from the elements.
Reassuringly, there appear not to be any casualties among the plants purchased this year.
The maihuenias have taken it in their stride, as have Opuntia humifusa (including one plant growing in ordinary garden soil in the front garden!), O. arenaria, O. x rutila ’super’, and O. bentonii, a form from Galveston, Texas.
Not all the plants have got through completely unscathed, however.
The Opuntia bentonii at bottom left in the main image has a second pad branching from its base; you can see if you click on the smaller image (left) has gone soft and perished in the cold. Presumably this has something to do with the maturity of the tissue, but I wouldn’t like to try and guess at any more specific reasons.
The main stem has started to lean as well, but feels sound enough - having given it a good prod, I certainly don’t expect it to succumb to rot.