These plants grow outside without injury from twenty or twenty-five degrees of frost; in colder climates they should be protected out of doors or grown in a dry, hot, sunny glass house. Large plants are transplanted easily in early spring, with care not to injure the roots or stems; they thrive in gravelly, stony soils with occasional watering to keep moisture in the soil during the growing season. Young plants grow easily from seed with the usual care, moist sandy soil, partial shade, and a dry atmosphere.
Spiny Hedgehog Cactus (Echinocereus polyacanthus)
(Named polyacanthus from its many spines, though it is not as spiny as some other species)
How to identify and how it grows
The Spiny Hedgehog Cactus consists of a cylindrical system of stems growing to ten inches in height, about two inches in diameter, with the usual system of ridges, nine to eleven or so. It has the same spine clusters along these ridges, radially arranged, and with the central spines the longer, nearly two inches in length. In this case the spine bases are flask-shaped and spreading. At first the colors are pale yellow, later becoming grayish, pink-gray, or purple-gray with darker tips. This change denotes the age of the plant. The flowers appear near the tips of the stems and are about three inches long, with eighteen petals that are thick and firm and spatulate, colorings ranging from yellowish green bases to flame or orange-red blades. There are six sepals of orange-red. The ovary has yellow spines with dense tufts of long cottony hairs in the areolas. The plants grow on foothills and low mountains from western Texas to southeastern Arizona in clumps of ten to twenty or more. They often form in compact mounds, and they bloom during April and May.
How to grow
Plants are not injured by temperatures as low as zero, but in lower temperatures they require protection. They may be grown in cool, sunny greenhouses, but they blossom best with outdoor planting. The plant may be set out at almost any season—but early spring is best—in gravelly loam or among rocks, with care not to injure the root or stem. The seed grow readily in sandy loam in pots or flats, in diffused sunlight, with just enough water to keep the soil moist. In cactus gardens the plants should be given only enough water to keep the soil moist during dry spells, and growth should not be forced.
Salmon Flowered Hedgehog Cactus (Echinocereus Leeanus)
(Named Leeanus in honor of James Lee of England, who presented the type specimen to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew about 1842)