Gardeners find huge disappointments when buying cacti from the local big box gardening stores because most of the cacti sold there are green house varieties that can't take our weather. People are shocked and saddened when the cactus shrivel and die at the first hint of frost. Not so at Drycreek Garden Company. All of Drycreek's cactus plants are cold hardy varieties.

This spring, John Strickland, the co-owner of Drycreek, took a special road trip to a cactus specialist who grows cold hardy cacti in Colorado. Wearing a good pair of leather gardening gloves, John hand picked this year's selection, making sure the nursery would have the best selection possible for northern Nevada gardeners. In stock right now are at least ten exciting cold hardy varieties.

Gardeners either love cactus or they hate them, but if they love them, they love them a lot. Besides the interesting flesh, the flowers tend to be over-the-top spectacular, from the bright red, long lasting Claret Cup, to the hot pink, lemon yellow and salmon colored Beaver Tail, to the deep purple and magenta Cholla.

All of the cactus John collected this spring are perfect for rock gardens and other xeric uses. They love full sun, take little water and sit there looking pretty simply left alone. They also grow well in containers. Each year, since many of the flowers, once ready, open so quickly, it's fun to set up a tripod for some armature time lapse photography.