370 GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



HARDY CACTI 



The strange and picturesque hardy Cacti are arousing in- 

 terest, and in many English gardens they have a little garden 

 to themselves, a " Cacti " garden, interesting at all times and a 

 blaze of colour when the flowers of the various Cacti are in 

 full beauty. Since the high regions of the Western and 

 Southern States of North America have been more thoroughly 

 explored quite a number of true Alpine Cacti have been dis- 

 covered, some of them being already in English gardens. 

 The only difficulty in the way of successful culture here is 

 the extremely damp climate in winter. Early spring is the 

 best time for planting, choosing either a sunny, well-drained 

 border, rock-garden, bank, or wall, in a mixture of soil con- 

 sisting principally of bits of porous stone, sand, gravel, or 

 broken bricks and loam. The Mamillarias, Cereus, and 

 Echinocactus should be protected with pieces of glass during 

 the winter to keep them dry ; this prevents rot through 

 damp. The 



Opuntias are the commonest and best known of hardy 

 Cacti, and the following are the most familiar of the family : 

 O. vulgaris is a prostrate plant with jointed stems, and minute 

 leaves with bristly axils and sometimes spines. The flowers 

 are imbricated and rose-coloured, whilst the fruit consists of an 

 edible berry. This Opuntia is common over the extreme 

 south of Europe, save the sea coast, and grows in rocky or 

 sandy soil. This and other allied species of Opuntia are 

 favourite plants for groups in the southern parts of France and 

 over the greater part of Italy and Spain, especially as they need 

 little more than planting and keeping in order ; they flower in 

 early summer. 0. Rafinesquii is larger and taller. This is a 

 well-known Opuntia, and is probably the most popular of all. 

 It has large joints and larger flowers than those of O. vulgaris, 

 whilst the centre is reddish coloured. This also flowers in 

 summer, and is a native of Italy. O. missouriensis has broad 

 obovate joints and small leaves, with tufts of spines and bristles 

 upon the axils. The pale green flowers appear during early 

 summer, and, like the former, a dry and sandy soil and sun- 

 shine are essential. O. Engelmanni is more bushy, and has 

 branched stems with obovate joints from six inches to eighteen 

 inches in length furnished with bundles of spines. The pretty 

 bright yellow flowers are about four inches across. This comes 

 from the Western States of North America, and flowers during 

 early summer. O. pulchella is quite dwarf, with slender joints, 



