June 23, 2009

Prickly salad bar

We caved and bought cacti...
take that (!) hungry deer!

I immediately forgot the Latin names of all of them...
ok, the common names, too.

If everything goes as it should, this bad boy will grow 6' - 7' tall
Couldn't resist the purple skin on this one.
This little guy will eventually grow to about 3' in height.
So much for the deer salad bar our yard had become.

13 comments:

Unknown said...

Bye bye dinner or lunch...you poor deers!!

Catherine said...

Looks like cholla and beaver tail. Ouch!

Michelle Engel Bencsko said...

I went to the jersey shore on father's day and there were TONS of a low lying cactus in full bloom with beautiful yellow flowers... it was strange to see them o this coast. But they'll fit right in where you are.

Michelle Engel Bencsko said...

Here's a link- apparently it's prickly pear http://www.ahherald.com/oaktrail/2006/oot060622_flowering.htm. Who knew?

Golden West said...

I've always tried to avoid thorns in my garden - even had thornless Lady Banks roses for a while. If these new plants of yours don't deter the deer, I don't know what will!

Tess Kincaid said...

They're exoctic! Don't think the deer will be chomping those babies down any time soon.

Judi FitzPatrick said...

Personally I try to keep prickly things out of my garden, but there are no dear here (at least not yet!)
Hope this is just what you need to keep your garden for you, not your "deer friends".
Peace, Judi

Cecile/DreamCreateRepeat said...

Do you think cactus will thrive in wet, clay-soiled Virginia?! I need to slap these deer with something....

prickly pear are a common eastcoast BEACH (think sand) plant. I grew up sneaky sips of my aunt's prickly pear wine! ; )

picciolo said...

they must have been fun to plant, I hope you avoided getting prickled!
: )

Victoria said...

Good idea and I think they will look so cool as they grow and mature! As for the prickly pear cactus that Michelle mentioned... it grows here, too. I have some outside in a container... it stays out all winter then comes back in the spring. Some of my neighbors have it planted in the ground and it spreads beautifully. The yellow flowers are big and gorgeous.

Alicia @ boylerpf said...

I think it's safe to say the deer won't be coming for dinner!

Brighid said...

Ouch, cacti and I are not friends. If you've ever been bucked off into a patch, you know how nasty they can be. There is a large deer herd here. Infact four big bucks are struting thru the backyard as I type. They don't like rosemary, gardenias, santa barbara daisy, thyme, bracken fern, or artemisa(wormwood) to name a few survivors to date.

Linda Sue said...

OUCH! TOO spicey!