Order our limited edition Cold Hardy Native Cacti Collection to experiment with these desert gems in your yard! Cold-hardy cacti not only bring a fascinating botanical element to your xeric garden —they also provide important nectar sources for pollinating insects early in the spring before other plants bloom. Take the time to observe your cacti in flower and you will see the flowers alive with native bees and tiny pollinating wasps in all shapes, colors, and sizes.

The seeds for these cacti selections were gathered by Jeff Thompson, a friend of David Salman. They were cultivated by Tim Hanis, a renowned seed collector specializing in unique and rare cacti, succulents, and perennials. Tim began growing western native plants in the mid-1990s and started collecting seeds for High Country Gardens in the early 2000s. Tim has spent years sustainably propagating and growing the cacti in this collection.

Although we think of cacti as being strictly low-desert plants, many species are found in very cold, harsh environments. The greatest concentration of cold-hardy cacti species is found in Mexico northward into Arizona, New Mexico, and West Texas. As more and more gardeners experiment with the various cold-hardy species, we can look to plant them more widely and expand their usefulness as garden plants into a much larger portion of the United States.

	Name	Collection Details	Description	Form
	Echinocereus coccineus 'Huerfano Giants (Hedgehog Cactus)	Huerfano County, Colorado Jeff Thompson JRT 191	Zone 4 - Massive clumping shorter stem plants, with orange red trumpet flowers in mid spring. Tolerates clay.	H: 15" tall W: 5" wide stem Clumper
	Echinocereus coccineus (Hedgehog Cactus)	Saguache County, Colorado Jeff Thompson JRT 190	Zone 4 - Close to 8,000 ft. High arching clumping stems, with a lot of spine types, even long and wavy. Orange red trumpet flowers.	H: 15" tall W: 5" wide stem
	Echinocereus ssp. perbellus 'Red Top Ranch' (Lace Cactus)	Pueblo County, Colorado Jeff Thompson JRT 107	Zone 4 - 6,000 ft. Single squatty stems that tend to disappear back into the ground during the winter months. Pink to magenta flowers in June.	H: 15" tall W: 4" wide stem Often a clumper
	Echinocereus triglochidiatus (Claret Cup Cactus)	Fremont County, Colorado Jeff Thompson JRT 172	Zone 4 - Semi-clumping stems with lighter to darker spines. Nice scarlet trumpet flowers in spring.	H: 8-12" tall W: 4" wide stem Clumper
	Echinocereus viridiflorus (Prairie Hedgehog Cactus)	Morton County, Kansas Jeff Thompson JRT 1331	Zone 5 - 7,000 ft. Green, slightly larger than standard especially when grown at lower elevations. Chartreuse flowers in early spring.	H: 8-10" tall W: 1-3" wide stem