hi i am mark and i love succulents, cactus. I used to grow them inside in containers but now that i have my own yard i have been experimenting with outdoor succulents. i live in 98108 washington ( seattle ) so it is very wet in the fall, winter, spring. what i have done is used raised beds on the south and south east side of house under roof line to plant prickly pear and others. I am working on a raised bed in my yard to fill with gravel, rubble and then plant with the cultivated type of opuntia ficus-indica. maby put plastic hoop over it for winter.
right now i have plants that overwintered succesfully including.
Miniature Joshua Tree (Sedum multiceps)
Graptoveria 'Fred Ives'
Sedum morganium
Echeveria setosa
Senecio mandraliscae
Crassula perforata
Opuntia ficus-indica
opuntia tomentosa
puntia humifusa
opuntia fragilis ( spineless and native sequim )
then 12 more types of yet unidentifed opuntia and Cylindropuntia from utah, desert aire washington
I have planted them in soil heavily amended with pea gravel and rose sand and mulched with pea gravel. they are protected to one side with brick wall and by a 3 ft overhang from my roof. I think that the brick wall they are planted on leaks heat from my sunroom during the winter.
So does anyone else grow cactus where it shouldn't be growing, i would be very interested to read about it or better yet see photos.
