Padhenge: Born Last Fall on a Trade and a Whim

Padhenge materialized last fall in an unexpected trade with highly knowlegeable friends and customers from way north Florida near the Georgia border. This blank part of the house lawn was screaming out for completion, vexing in its unrealized potential for six years. I specialize primarily in Columnar and native Florida cactus species, but after driving up to Monticello, FL to see their gorgeous food plant homestead and the stunningly large Opuntia pad varieties they had, I was instantly hooked. Some of the pads are almost two feet long!

Turns out, they are also all extremely cold-hardy, drought-resistant hybrids that yield high-brix fruit. Developed at University of California at Davis and the National Arid Land Plant Genetic Resource Unit (NALPGRU) in Parlier, CA, The Desert Collection was put together with agriculturally promising specimens collected from numerous locations in Argentina, Chile, Mexico and even Algeria, where cacti are not native. Most are good down to Hardiness Zone 8, and true to specifications, all proved tough as cast iron during miserably cold January, where we reached 17f two nights in a row with mostly near 32-36f nights for the whole month into February. A precise, targeted spraying of combined Btk and Spinosad on the pads twice per month seems to be working to prevent Cactoblastis cactorum moth caterpillar infestations, making the situation game-on for farming Opuntiads here at Cactus Island Nursery. The likely UC-Davis hybrids that I’ve enjoyed watching grow off of Newberry Rd. near Gainesville look to be about 9ft tall and very wide with lots of red fruit. If Padhenge fills in as spectacularly, it will be a joy-giving treasure.

The pathway idea just came to me with some layout rope and an intention to compress a longer pathway into that unused space, and Ma immediately loved it. I layed the path out with cardboard, mulched and then rooted each cutting in 30″ x 24″ permanent cactus soil/mineral mix to grow into huge shrubs that we hope will yield tasty fruit and a lot of viewing pleasure. Along the path I have added Florida’s native Agave decipiens (false sisal) and Yucca aloifolia (Spanish bayonett) to round out our cold-hardy succulent walk. Opuntia azurea, Agave victoriae-reginae and Echinopsis terscheckii are planned additions for spring. This week’s warmth and precipitation yielded budding signs that they are here to stay: lots of new pads forming on most of them so far. It flows into the Caribbean and Florida Cactus Garden 20 paces away. I hope to add more caprock stones for edging and stability.