SucculentsIn the landscape
Data sources
Prickly Pear Cactus
Opuntia humifusa
Prickly Pear Cactus is a slow-growing succulent, hardy in USDA zones 4-9, that matures to about 0.5-1 ft × 1-1.5 ft. It does best in full sun with low water needs in well-drained, occasionally-dry and very-dry soil. Expect yellow and red blooms in summer. It attracts bees, stands up well to deer, drought and dry soil, grows happily in containers.
- USDA zones
- 4-9
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Low
- Mature size
- 0.5-1 ft × 1-1.5 ft
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Maintenance
- Low
- Soil
- Well-drained, Occasionally-dry, Very-dry
- Bloom color
- Yellow, Red
- Bloom season
- Summer
- Attracts
- Bees
- Tough against
- Deer, Drought, Dry soil, Heat, Rabbits, Salt
- Native to
- Eastern and central United States
Freeze survival
Will it survive your winters?
We score Prickly Pear Cactus’s freeze-trouble range against the real coldest nights your area has recorded.
Powered by ~35 years of daily lows from the nearest NOAA weather station. A risk read, not a guarantee — a sheltered spot or mature plant beats the odds.
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