Eastern Prickly Pear
Opuntia caespitosa
Silky butter-yellow June blooms on spreading armed pads that turn red-purple in winter. Holds dry, sunny slopes nothing else will cover.
Typically 1 pint–1 gal · $9–$30 · final price at pickup
- Thu, Aug 138 AM – 4 PM
- Fri, Aug 148 AM – 4 PM
- Sat, Aug 158 AM – 2 PM
Bold native cactus for dry slopes with satiny yellow summer flowers, colorful winter pads, and wildlife fruit.
Eastern prickly pear is the spined version of the native pads cactus, forming low, spreading mats with armed pads that are both beautiful and functionally deterrent. The flowers are a saturated butter-yellow, large and silky, opening in June and July and drawing native bees inside for pollen in a way that looks almost comedic. Bees dive in and emerge dusted yellow. Red-purple fruit follows in fall, attractive to birds through winter. This is the right plant for a dry, sunny slope that nothing else will hold or cover. It handles drought, compaction, and thin soil with complete indifference. The wintertime color shift to red-purple adds a bonus season of interest. Plant it where you want a statement and a barrier. This prickly pear means business.
A nursery-grown plant, ready for the ground.
Healthy, container-grown eastern prickly pear propagated on-site at Hill House from regional genetics. Includes a one-page care card. We make every effort to supply plants as listed; occasionally we substitute a similar species of equal value.
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Dry
- Mature size
- 6"–1.5' · 24–48 in wide
- Bloom time
- June–July
- Bloom color
- Yellow
- USDA zones
- 4–9
- Family
- Cactaceae
- Native range
- Central United States from Kansas and Iowa south to Texas and Louisiana, east to Tennessee and the Carolinas
Care notes for eastern prickly pear.
Full sun in dry, well-drained soil. Tolerates rocky, sandy, and compacted conditions. Use gloves and tongs when handling. the spines are sharp and the glochids (tiny barbed bristles) are persistent. No supplemental water needed once established.
Pairs well with these.
Same light, same soil, same wildlife. Janet's picks to plant alongside eastern prickly pear.
Or skip the guesswork.
Curated packages bundle complementary species for an instant habitat. One reservation, one pickup day, a printed layout map.
Short on Space Package
For gardeners who have an abundance of passion but are short on space, this package features tidy, upright, clump-forming natives that behave and function well in small spaces.
Shade Bed Package
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Birder’s Paradise Package
For the avid bird watchers and budding ornithologists in our community, the Birder’s Paradise Package consists of species that Hill House Nursery staff and longtime native plant advocates such as Doug Tallamy consider ‘premier bird garden plants’.