Choose an eastern hardy pad, a fruit cactus, or bunny ears first.
Choose an eastern hardy pad, a fruit cactus, or bunny ears
| Factor | Recommended | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| A clump that returns after freeze | Eastern hardy pad | Do not plant bunny ears in the ground where frost hits |
| A houseplant with dotted pads | Bunny ears | Do not set a large Engelmann next to a sofa |
| Taller pads for fruit | Indian fig | Do not treat it as the hardy eastern clump |
| A purple or large SW shrub | Santa Rita or Engelmann | Do not plant spines on a narrow path |
| Cylindrical stems | Not this genus — Eve's Needle / cholla | Do not treat a cane as a pad |
Know your USDA hardiness zone before you pick a type of opuntia that will take your winter. Type your ZIP below.
2023 USDA ZIP listings (PRISM / USDA-ARS). Find Your USDA Hardiness Zone · Official USDA map.
Read the Latin. Hardy low pad vs fruit cactus vs bunny ears is the choose, not the nursery pot size. [1] An eastern pad returns after a freeze if the soil drains. [2] Bunny ears is a houseplant in most of the US. [3] Height runs from a one-foot clump to a tall shrub, depending on the species. [4] Sun and dry ground stay on How to Grow Prickly Pear. Pads you root from a cutting are a different job on How to Propagate Prickly Pear.
Which prickly pear should I plant?
Pick habit first: an eastern hardy pad, a fruit cactus, or bunny ears in a pot you can move.
Is bunny ears hardy outdoors?
Not in most of the US. Keep it in a pot you can move, or plant it only where frost stays off.
Browse by kind
Match the habit you want, then pick that kind. Care for the plant you already have on How to Grow Prickly Pear.
Eastern hardy pads
eastern prickly pear is the usual hardy low pad in the East. brittle prickly pear is the same class with pads that snap off easily. Both return after a freeze if the soil drains.
Fruit cactus
Indian fig is the taller fruit cactus (O. ficus-indica). Same sun and dry soil; it is not the hardy eastern clump. How to take the fruit is on Harvesting Prickly Pear.
Bunny ears and indoor pads
angel's wings is bunny ears (O. microdasys). blind pricklypear is the same glochid class. Frost kills them in the ground in most of the US. Keep that kind in a container on Prickly Pear in Pots.
Southwest landscape pads
Engelmann is a large Southwest shrub. Santa Rita, Santa Rita Tubac, and Baby Rita are purple pads. beavertail, black-spine, silver dollar, and red-flower prickly pear sit in the same dry-sun landscape class. Keep spines off the walk.
Eve's Needle is not a pad
Eve's Needle is Austrocylindropuntia subulata. Cylindrical stems, not a flattened pad. It is filed in this catalog, but it is not a prickly pear.
Pick the group, then the plant. Extra shop names are not extra kinds. Tubac and Baby Rita are Santa Rita names we already list.
If you wanted a pad that returns after a freeze, buy eastern prickly pear — bunny ears will not take a freeze in the ground.
FAQ
Are Tubac and Baby Rita extra plants?
No. They are Santa Rita names. Treat a purple pad you already own as Santa Rita.
Is Eve's Needle a prickly pear?
No. Eve's Needle is Austrocylindropuntia. It has cylindrical stems, not pads.
How many prickly pear kinds are there?
Dozens of species exist. This page is the catalog jobs, not a 150-photo list.
Related guides
References
- [1] NC State Extension Gardener -
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/opuntia/ - [2] NC State Extension Gardener -
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/opuntia-humifusa/ - [3] NC State Extension Gardener -
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/opuntia-microdasys/ - [4] University of Florida IFAS Extension -
https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/FP448
This note is part of Opuntia Guides.
More type comparisons by plant are gathered in Types of Plants Guides.
Updated: Reviewed by Bosquelle Editors