Surly Sit-upons -- barrel cactus

 A shipment of barrel cacti just arrived from YuccaDo Nursery in Texas.  I hoped they would wait to ship until the weather was a little cooler, but they didn't.  So I had to do something with the plants and it was still too hot to put them out in the garden.  Besides, they are all about 4" in diameter and I haven't had much success in my garden with barrel cacti that small, not even with the Golden Barrels from Home Depot.  So I put them in pots and will wait until they are a little larger before planting them.

Golden Barrel



Barrel cacti in home gardens look like prickly hassocks.  We don't live long enough to see the ones we plant turn into 5' columns.  

                                                                                             



Fishhook Barrel

 Like all cactus, barrel cactus are planted for their shape and also for their spectacular flowers.  They can be used as specimen plants, but usually look better in groups.  There are only two genuses of true barrels: Echinocactus and Ferocactus.  They are easily distinguishable as the echinocactus have a woolly top and woolly seed ods, while the Ferocactus lack the wool. Other types of cactus may resemble them when they are young, so can easily be mistaken for barrels. 

Ferocactus fordii



Ferocactus. townsendi









All cacti are native to the Western Hemisphere, and barrel cacti are native to Mexico and the Southwestern US.  I have planted most of the varieties that I can find for sale, that are advertised as growing in this climate zone.  A good source is YuccaDo Nursery (http://www.yuccado.com/)  in Texas.  Information about individual species can be found at http://www.desert-tropicals.com/.



Fishhook Barrel

 

Large Compass Barrel



Small Compass Barrels













Here is what I have been able to grow in Barstow:

           Species                                              Comments                                  Distinguishing Features 

E. grusonii/Golden Barrel                   water twice a month in summer       golden appearance

E. grusonii/Silver Barrel                      water twice a month in summer      silver appearance

E. polycephalos/Cotton-top Barrel     native, minimal water                     clump of small barrels

E. setispinus                                       red, berry-like fruit                        clump of very small barrels
E. texensis/Texas Barrel                     red flowers
F. cylindraeus/Compass Barrel           native, minimal water                     new spines purple

F. fordii                                              purple flowers                              central spines form cross

F. glaucescens                                    yellow flowers                              short golden spines
F. hamatacanthus/Turk's head             small flattened barrel                    straw-colored hooked spines
F. latispina/Crow's Claw Cactus         wavy ribs                                     flat hooked central spine
F. peninsulae                                      indented ribs                                short black spnes
F. pilosus/Mexican Fire Barrel                                                                hairy red appearance

F. robustus                                                                                             very hairy
F. townsendiensus                                                                                  very long central spine

F. wislizeni/Fishhook Barrel                native, minimal water                    spines form hooked cross





Golden Barrels at Huntington Gardens