Cactus in Wisconsin?

there are also cactus boards....my bil is a member of one....I will find out which it is.

We have a native prickly pear around here, I see it quite often while wandering around in the dunes and sandy grassland around here..it has pretty yellow flowers in the spring.

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It's not that I don't like mankind, I just like nature a whole lot more.

I love cactus, but not the ones with lots of spiny, sharp needles...these don't have but few needles on them...also, the young pads can be scraped and eaten in various ways, (Napolitos)....

PRICKLY PEAR ALSO GROWS NORTH INTO mANITOBA AND oNTARIO. i HAD AN EDIBLE WILD FOODS BOOK WHEN i TOOK MY bOY sCOUTS CANOING IN 1998 & 1999 AND YES, PRICKLY PEAAR GROWS NORTH ONTO THE oNTARIO SHIELD FORMATIONS.

I'm in Zone 4 and I have WAY too many for my liking. I'm forever picking the young pads, like little balls, out of the horses, the dogs, the cats, etc. If I don't have gloves with me, it hurts! I get poked by those spines and it burns for hours. I used to try digging them up and burning them when I found them, but there are always more.

I did find a little pincushion cactus one summer, and I dug it up and kept that one. It sits in a terra cotta pot by the back door and blooms every summer. That one I like, and it's VERY pretty, but it's contained! LOL!

~Lannie

I was jsut out in the dunes in a new spot for me this morning and there were a TON of cactus growing in the sand. I picked a couple paddles and will root them inside over the winter.

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It's not that I don't like mankind, I just like nature a whole lot more.

I am east of Lake Winnebago and I have a couple small ones. There is a neighbor a half mile from here that has a huge bed full. Your typical flat paddled prickly pear.

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My neighbors have some in their yard like the pictures above. Its lasted without much care and thru many cold winters. She gave me some but I didnt want it so I put it in a yard sale. It has Horrible invisible pickers.

When I work with mine, I wear heavy leather gloves, and use barbeque tongues to move the pads and plants around. Those buggers hurt!

I figured I'd give everyone an update. I did indeed find some native cacti and I brought home a pad. I also brought back a prickly pear from Kansas which also seems to be doing quite well.



That's the one from Kansas. Not sure if it's the same species as up here in Wisconsin. So far it seems to be happy here in Wisconsin although I'm unsure how it'll fare over winter.



The native Wisconsin cacti. It handled winter like a champ.

I also bought home some prickly pear from the higher elevations of New Mexico and Arizona. Not sure how they'll do. Time will tell I suppose

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http://www.xanga.com/shackman A blog about whatever

There are cactus all the way to zone 2 atleast. I have some selections from death valley, that barley survived my winter in a zone 5 mountaintop... surprised me though considering where its from.

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I have a high desert arid mountainous climate. Working towards self sufficiency. The potentials of plant breeding and building micro climates amaze me. We must learn to ride the wave.

there are some about 1/4 mile west of me ..I'm in central Michigan. We had some here but they died (too wet)...these are on a s facing sandy bank by the road

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Brenda Groth
http://restfultrailsfoodforestgarden.blogspot.com/

I remember going on a cactus finding trip with my Dad years ago. We found them in SW WI. I believe the Milwaukee Journal did a story about them sometime in the 70's.

I miss Phil Johnson's posts...anyone hear from him lately?

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www.salmonslayer-simplelife.blogspot.com

I'm still here I just haven't been on HT too much lately.

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http://www.xanga.com/shackman A blog about whatever

Hi, Phil! I've missed you on HT too and hope you are doing okay.

Peg

This is a very nice lady just outside of Monroe, WI on HWY 11 who has a large collection of Alpine catci and other various plants she has brought over from Switzerland. She even has bus tours that stop buy. If you'd like, I could try to get some info for you about her info and whatnot.

I just caught up with your blog and am glad to see your still plugging along. Looks like things are still going strong on your homestead...I wish I had access to so many great old cars and trucks. They think they are plated in gold around here!

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www.salmonslayer-simplelife.blogspot.com

Things are going well enough. I got a new job Good thing too because the other job I had sorta dried up when the farmer sold his herd.

I scan craigslist quite often. You just never know what kind of good deal will pop up Speaking of which I have to pick up a 55 CJ5 tomorrow which I picked up for 400 bucks

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http://www.xanga.com/shackman A blog about whatever

Hello, I'm CactusRock and I live in a secret location just south of New London. I am supported by Lawrence University and I also get visits from UWGB and a few other schools who like to come to look at the native Opuntia fragilis cactus that grow on my exposed granite face. The cactus that grow on me have been displaced by many who don't respect the rarity of my spiny friends. If you do visit me, please take care to not disturb these tiny cactus, and please leave them for me to tend. If you are persistent, Google will tell you how and where to find me.