Prickly in Name Only

A couple of trips to warm climates caused me to fall in love with cacti. So different from plants I typically see, cacti are something to behold. In some cases, cacti take a simple form that is striking and majestic. In other cases, they are flowering beauties that seem to spill over with color and life in environments that are sunbaked to the point of seeming inhospitable to growth.

The stateside trips that introduced me to cacti were taken when I was much younger and not yet much of a gardener. I could not resist buying a tiny souvenir cactus or two to take home with me. Those souvenirs made it through the flights, but not much beyond…. Overwatering and lack of knowledge did harm to those little beauties I had so admired.

Many years have passed since I saw my first cactus in nature. In those years, I have gained a lot of experience with outdoor gardening and tending to houseplants. Also in those years, research around plant care has become incredibly easy. Caring for a cactus has become a simple pleasure and has reaped good results.

No longer does a cactus have to wing its way home: I can order many varieties online and have them shipped to my door, no worse for the wear. And when one of those varieties arrives at my home, I have confidence when it comes to caring for it. Nothing could be simpler.

Opuntia cochenillifera variegata appeals to me at the moment, due to the straightforward shape of its pads. This Variegated Prickly Pear Cactus is far from prickly, with smoothed nubs decorating its oval pads. Gardeners will often sacrifice the comfort of their hands to tend to a plant they love: Thorns on a rosebush and prickles on a cactus will not deter them. But Opuntia cochenillifera variegata greets its caretakers with not a single prickle.

The nubs on Opuntia cochenillifera variegata are positioned along each pad in a manner that forms diamond shapes: If an admirer visually connects the nubs with ‘lines’, this pattern appears. Each cactus pad is variegated with yellow-green alongside darker green, and the variegation seems to follow this same ‘quilting pattern’ to some extent.

But while the decoration on the pads causes me to think of a quilt, Opuntia cochenillifera variegata really strikes me as a modern beauty. This cactus seems like a plant I might come across in a contemporary home with sleek surfaces. In that setting, it would be a specimen plant… something to stand on its own, like a piece of artwork.

Truth being told, my home is not modern in décor. But Opuntia cochenillifera variegata is just as attractive in my setting. In a sunny spot, Variegated Prickly Pear Cactus takes on the feel of a very rare plant to admire.

While in my younger days, I thought of cacti growing in mere sand, I now know that this cactus likes a bit of richness in its potting soil. That does not mean Opuntia cochenillifera variegata can withstand over-feeding; fertilizing just a couple of times a year is all that it wants, along with adequate moisture. (Tending this cactus does not mean withholding water; it does not want to be completely parched.)

Opuntia cochenillifera variegata does put forth blooms of red, but its basic form without flowers is really all it needs to tug at the heartstrings (without prickling, even a little). Sure, I would like to go back in time to my days of first seeing a cactus in nature. I would have fewer wrinkles. But time has made cacti like Opuntia cochenillifera variegata accessible, and it has made me confident in knowing I can keep this cactus and others looking great. You can have the same confidence with this easy plant.