Cacti are amongst some of the easiest plants to have in your home – they don’t require much water (where they’re from they don’t get very much, if any!) and they cope well in most lighting conditions too. I also find that with my kids, its good that they can protect themselves a little! It never seems to be the cactus that gets knocked over or eaten 🙂
My trip to the Eden Project this week has really inspired me to get some more cacti in my life! The mediterranean biome had a great section focusing just on cacti and some of them were over 12 foot high! My sights are set a little lower than that fortunately, and I picked up a little fella to come live with me while we were there…
If you’ve never been to the Eden Project, its well worth a visit! I didn’t know quite what to expect but it is really quite impressive. The rainforest biome is probably the most impressive and for the adrenaline seekers out there you can zip wire across the whole valley. The harness holds you horizontally so its as if you were flying superman-style over the centre – pretty cool! However, I’m a total wimp when it comes to things like that.
So back to Cacti, here are a few that are really great for your home…
The Bunny Cactus
The Bunny cacti is native to northern Mexico and surrounding desert regions. Contained in a small pot it will stay quite small, but given room it can spread over up to 5 feet! Its prickles are quite sharp, so watch out for this one!
Its also known as the Polka-Dot Cactus. It flowers quite easily provided its given full sunlight. In general, this little guy needs a lot of light and won’t like a dark shelf…
Peruvian apple cactus
These guys will tower upwards given enough space and light, so ensure to put in a nice heavy pot! Also know as the Cereus (Genus) cacti, they can produce white flowers within summer – that open up at night online!
Again, another prickly fella but not as easy to loose its pins into your fingers as some others…
Christmas Cactus
My nan always seemed to have one of these in flower! Some of them were massive too and she used to pot little cuttings and they quickly turned into little baby cacti.
As you’re probably guessed, they usually have lovely pink flowers at around Christmas time. Its might look like its dessert growing cousin, but in fact its a tropical cactus, so too much heat and too little water will kill it off quite quickly!
Golden Barrel Cactus
This little guy is a globe shaped type cacti suitable for growing in conservatories, and other hot sunny spaces. Its other name is ‘mother-in-law’s cushion’ which made me giggle! Not that I would do that to mine 😉
These very prickly cacti need lots of sun and like it warm. they’re very hard to get to flower indoors so perhaps forget that idea in the UK!
Mother in Laws Tongue
Not technically a cactus but they look fab and they’re so good to have in your home. They filter out the air and convert poisonous substances to oxygen!
They come in 70 different varieties providing lots of different colours and shades to pick from. They don’t need that much water and can cope with less light than a standard cactus.
Where to buy
You can of course pop into your local home or hardware store but its a little pot luck (excuse the pun) on what they have available and also how healthy their stock is. There are lots of lovely online sellers who really know their stuff:
The Cactus Shop
I’ve bought a few from these guys and they’re really good. The website is a little off putting but go with it! They have some really bit cacti for instant impact but also some little ones too… a really good range!
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Abigail Ahern’s Faux Plants
Don’t trust yourself with the real thing? Abigail Ahern has some fabulous faux plants.. check out her site!
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