Eastern prickly pear
Opuntia humifusa · Cactaceae
A hardy native cactus: flat, fleshy pads that sprawl along the ground, with silky yellow flowers in early summer and red fruit. The pads shrivel in winter and plump up again in spring.
- Size
- 10 in tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 9
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Mid June to early July
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Specimen
A bed built around eastern prickly pear
The planner designed this bed around eastern prickly pear when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) naturalistic planting in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 715 that suit those conditions and its dry soil, and says below why eastern prickly pear stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Eastern prickly pear × 1, yellow
- 2 Sedum 'Lidakense' × 30, pink
- 3 Common thyme × 5, lavender
- 4 Little bluestem × 5, blue-green leaves
- 5 Brown-eyed Susan × 3, yellow
- 6 Butterfly weed × 3, orange
- 7 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 2, purple
- 8 Schubert's allium × 3, pink
Why this plant
- The only bold leaves here. The rest are medium and fine. A change of leaf keeps plants distinct when nothing is in flower.
- A classic partner for little bluestem and butterfly weed. All are on this plan. A pairing gardeners have proved outranks a general rule.
- The only open bowls. The others are dense clusters, daisies, flat plates and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
Why here
- On the front edge. At 10 in it frames the bed without hiding it, and it is in leaf all season. It finishes 14% of the edge.
- One plant, alone. A feature plant is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
- Bold leaf against fine. Common thyme is beside it: the strongest contrast of leaf there is.
Why now
- In flower for four weeks. From mid June to early July.
- Part of the bed's peak. With common thyme and Schubert's allium in mid June: 3 kinds at once. No week has more.
- One of two evergreens. They are what the bed has to show from November to March.
Planned as a naturalistic planting: low grasses and groundcovers, the matrix, make up 61% of the planted ground. The back corners are held by brown-eyed Susan and little bluestem, the tallest plants on the plan. Low plants run along 97% of the front edge: eastern prickly pear, sedum 'Lidakense' and common thyme.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 6 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where eastern prickly pear goes in a border
At 10 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is low (6 to 12 in).
Its job: specimen. A feature plant with a shape of its own. It stands alone with room around it, and repeats only at a distance.
A cactus that survives northern winters, as long as the drainage is perfect. Keep it away from paths: besides the spines, the pads carry tufts of tiny barbed bristles that lodge in skin. Weed around it with tongs.
- Hot, dry, sandy or rocky ground
- A surprise in a cold-climate garden
- Native dry gardens
What to plant with eastern prickly pear
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Little bluestem: its blue-green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; fine leaves against its bold ones; tall enough (3 ft) to stand behind it.
- Butterfly weed: in flower together for two weeks, from late June; medium leaves against its bold ones; tall enough (24 in) to stand behind it.
- Hens and chicks: its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; medium leaves against its bold ones; low enough (4 in) to stand in front of it.
Questions about eastern prickly pear
Does eastern prickly pear need sun or shade?
Eastern prickly pear grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants dry, sharply drained soil, on the lean side, with no feeding, and little watering once settled. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does eastern prickly pear grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 9. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does eastern prickly pear flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid June to early July. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 4 | Late June to mid July |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Mid June to early July |
| Zone 6 | Mid June to early July |
| Zone 7 | Early June to late June |
| Zone 8 | Early June to late June |
| Zone 9 | Late May to late June |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should eastern prickly pear be planted?
18 in (45 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 24 in (60 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 10 in (25 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many eastern prickly pear plants do I need?
At 18 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 5 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 17 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one, with clear ground around it: a feature plant is seen as an object, and a group of them is a thicket.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is eastern prickly pear poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension and the ASPCA.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat eastern prickly pear?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer and rabbits. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What flowers after eastern prickly pear?
Eastern prickly pear is over by early July. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Butterfly weed: from late June to early August, 24 in tall (a recorded partner).
- Black-eyed Susan: from mid July to mid September, 24 in tall.
- Daylily: from late June to early August, 2½ ft tall.
What does eastern prickly pear look like in winter?
Eastern prickly pear keeps its green leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone.
Is eastern prickly pear good for bees and butterflies?
Eastern prickly pear is visited by bees.
It is native to the United States.
In these guides
- Salt-tolerant plants for roadsides and coasts
- Deer-resistant perennials for full sun
- Rabbit-resistant plants
- Drought-tolerant perennials for full sun
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Native perennials for pollinators
- Plants for bees
- Low plants for the front of a border
- Evergreen perennials, ferns and grasses
Zone guides: Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8 · Zone 9
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial (groundcover)
- Size
- 10 in (25 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 18 in (45 cm) apart
- Height class
- Low (6 to 12 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Mid June to early July; open bowls; yellow
- Leaves
- Bold texture, evergreen; green
- Shape
- Mat-forming, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 9
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Lean, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Cactaceae
- Comes from
- Eastern and central USA into Ontario
- Attracts
- Bees
- Stands up to
- Deer, rabbits, drought, heat, salt
Checked against NC State Extension, ASPCA poison lists and VASCAN (plants of Canada). Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.