In 2024, welcome this novelty 'prickly' plant to your landscape in Wilmington

I’ve noticed it is a common New Year’s resolution to be more kind; another way to put this might be to be less prickly! Perhaps a great way to be reminded of such resolve is to add a spineless prickly pear (which I refer to as a “Prickless Pear”) to your landscape. Opuntia, aka Prickly Pear, is a genus of the Cactus family with over 200 species mostly native to the Americas.

Our prickly North Carolina native, Eastern prickly pear - Opuntia humifusa - is a perennial evergreen native to the eastern United States from Massachusetts to Florida. The specific epithet humifusa means prostrate or sprawling in reference to this plant's low growth habit, generally growing in clumps sprawling on the ground only up to a foot tall. The flattened segmented stems (pads) act as leaves and generally have barbed bristles imbedded in woolly hairs and long spines. Flowers are produced at the ends of the pads, yellow to gold on the outside with reddish centers. Attractive to pollinators including Green Skipper butterflies, the fruit (pear) that follows is a fleshy edible green sphere that ripens to red or purple and persists on the stem. Learn more at https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/opuntia-humifusa/.

Not all Opuntia that grow well in our region are true to the nomenclature “prickly” however. We grow one of the spineless varieties at the New Hanover County Arboretum. I brought this plant with me from Florida when moving to Wilmington several years ago. It has thrived with our sunny, warm summers and cool winters. This cactus has proven very resilient to our Zone 8 cold temperatures. The plant needs full sun and is intolerant of wet, poorly drained soils. Forming a mound about three feet high and growing wider every year, its pads can be eaten. Known as nopales, the nutritious vegetable has the texture of green beans and is reputed to have many health benefits.

Mostly considered a novelty plant today, spineless cacti were once bred to be a versatile food crop in the early 1900s by Luther Burbank, an American horticulturist and pioneer in agricultural science. Now experiencing a resurgence in popularity, they’re making a comeback as gardeners and farmers recognize their potential as a low-input, high-yield food source. More of that story here: https://www.grit.com/farm-and-garden/cultivate-spineless-prickly-pear-zm0z22mazram/

Our own Ability Garden – a therapeutic horticulture program – has offspring of our specimen spineless cactus in propagation and for sale. Each third Saturday of the month is an Ability Garden plant sale from 9 a.m.–1 p.m. at the New Hanover County Arboretum. Stop by on Jan. 20 to buy your living reminder to be less prickly in the New Year for a pot on the patio or a great addition to a sunny, well-drained spot in your landscape.

Lloyd Singleton serves as the director of N.C. Cooperative Extension – New Hanover County Center and Arboretum. He can be reached at lsingleton@nhcgov.com or 910-798-7660. Located at 6206 Oleander Drive in Wilmington, the gardens are free and open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Add a Spineless Prickly Pear to your landscape in Wilmington, NC