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Laurie Garretson is a Victoria gardener and nursery owner.

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Over the past couple of years in the gardening community, there’s been a growing interest in more drought-tolerant plants.

This is, of course, a good thing considering that our part of the world has seen some pretty hot, dry weather patterns. Having a landscape that requires less water makes a lot of sense.

Cacti and succulent plants, being very drought-tolerant, are becoming very fashionable in the gardening world. Both types of plants can bloom and both have many varieties to choose from. But there’s that one thing about cactus that really causes many gardeners to shy away from them. Yes, you’re right, it’s those spines or barbs that cause many gardeners to refuse them in their gardens.

So what’s up with those spines? Why would a plant need to cause discomfort? Well, let’s take a closer look at these plants. All plants have specific features that have adapted them to their environment. Whether it be spines, bitter tastes, color, shapes or whether they can survive hot, cold, dry or wet conditions they have adapted.

Very little is known about the origin of the cactus family, only that it is native to America. It is believed that cactus grew in tropical environments until about 65,000 years ago when the climate changed and became dry and hotter. As the weather changed, plants like cactus adapted and have survived.

As cactus plants adapted many of the spines became modified leaves. Spines are good at protecting plants from animals that might be looking for water, water that might be found inside the plant or the flesh of the plant as a food source. Another function of cactus spines is to provide shade for plants. You wouldn’t think that spines could provide much shade, but consider there are thousands of spines all over some cactus. Cactus have roots that are close to the soil’s surface that can quickly collect moisture and store it within the plant.

Many of today’s cactus are highly adapted to very harsh conditions where other plants cannot survive. Without spines and other adapted features the cactus family might not have survived all these centuries.

Until next time, let’s try to garden with nature, not against it, and maybe all our weeds will become wildflowers.

Laurie Garretson is a Victoria gardener and nursery owner. Send your gardening questions to laurie@vicad.com or in care of the Advocate, P.O. Box 1518, Victoria, TX 77902.

thank you for calling out this obvious bias. advocate writer ian grenier applied the label

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