(Tennessee Coneflower)

In the heat of summer, bright lavender pink daisies cover the pretty and wild Tennessee coneflower. This rare species is only native to the State of Tennessee and is on the United States Federal Endangered Species List. For this reason, the wild-type species is typically only available at specialty plant nurseries and seed suppliers.

This hardy herbaceous perennial wildflower is clump-forming and has linear, fuzzy green leaves. In summer it produces mauve-pink daisies with orange-brown central...

(Rocky Top Tennessee Coneflower, Tennessee Coneflower)

Bright lavender pink daisies cover this compact Tennessee coneflower in the heat of summer. The vigorous and heavy flowering 'Rocky Top' is tough, beautiful and readily found in the garden trade. The parent species, Echinacea tennesseensis, is only native to the State of Tennessee and is on the United States Federal Endangered Species List. For this reason, it is typically only available at specialty plant nurseries and seed suppliers, though 'Rocky Top' is easily obtained.

This hardy...

(Echinocactus)

The genus Echinocactus is relatively small with just 15 species of slow growing cactus. Their native range extends from the American Southwest and deep into Mexico. These cacti are primarily barrel shaped, but also produce flattened, short cylindrical and many stemmed forms. Barrel cactus in general begin life as a near perfect or slightly flattened sphere that can elongate late in life. They produce occasional pups or offsets around the base which are often used to propagate new plants.

Echinocactus...

(Golden Ball, Golden Barrel Cactus)

A widely cultivated cactus from central Mexico, golden barrel cactus is valued for its striking bold, spherical habit and showy spines. It forms a broad, flattened, round barrel whose 20 or more vertical ribs are densely lined with golden yellow spines. Older plants are more cylindrical and younger more elongated. The barrel has a round, spineless, woolly spot at its top, which in summer gives rise to yellow flowers with numerous narrow, brown-tipped petals. The flowers are often produced in rings....

(Blue Barrel, Devil's Head Cactus, Melon Cactus)

Small in stature but large in flower, this cactus is often the brightest spot in an impossibly dry landscape. It is native to deserts of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The species also ranges well into Mexico’s Chihuahuan Desert where they are most often found on steep rocky hillsides, often clinging to nearly vertical inclines where drainage is assured. This is a solitary cactus but may produce clumps with great age. The single stem is a small barrel with about 8 ribs bearing very dense rounded...

(Biznaga de Dulce , Giant Barrel)

In the wild this cactus can grow as tall as a man and twice as wide in diameter. Such proportions make it the largest of all barrel cactus on Earth, giving credence to a common name of "giant barrel." Very old specimens in habitat are a destination of every dedicated cactus enthusiast and admirer. The species is native to a huge range of northern and central Mexico on moderately sloping sandy or gravelly soils. In youth this is a globe-shaped, bright green barrel. Eventually it will bear from five...

(Horse Crippler, Texas Horse Crippler)

The fact that these barrel cacti have such a flat shape makes them dangerous to Texas cow ponies because one misstep and they’ve got a hoof full of spines. The species is native to a much larger range which includes rougher parts of New Mexico and Oklahoma southward into Mexico. It is typically found at sea level or the very toe foothills in these mountainous areas. This is indeed a barrel cactus that is far wider than it is tall, appearing as though it has been pressed too far into the earth. Each...

(Calico Cactus, Engelmann's Hedgehog Cactus, Hedgehog Cactus)

Cloaked in ferocious spines, this low spreading cactus is so adaptable it can be grown just about anywhere in the American southwest and even some states further north. This beautiful mounding cactus is from the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, with populations occurring from sea level up to very alpine locations. It varies widely across its native range, resulting in the naming of several subspecies and varieties.

Engelman’s cactus is composed of many cylindrical stems...

(Hardy Hedgehog Cactus, Lace Hedgehog Cactus, Reichenbach's Hedgehog Cactus)

Fabulous flowers and a short, tidy habit make this a highly rewarding cactus for containers and rockeries. Rare in the wild, it occurs in dry, rocky scrub and grasslands from southeastern Colorado to northern Mexico. It is noted and named for its interlacing, starry clusters of stem-hugging, flattened spines.

The small, upright, football shaped stems of lace hedgehog cactus are initially single. Over time they produce pups and create clumps. Mature stems produce lots of striking pink, lavender-pink...

(Blue Echinops, Smaller Globe Thistle)

Prickly, thistle-like foliages is a deep green with silvery undersides is one pretty aspect of the blue echinops, but the showstopper is the rounded blue flower clusters in late summer. A upright, clump-forming perennial, it hails from southeastern Europe eastward into central Asia.

The dark green leaves are coarsely lobed, looking like leaves of a thistle or pointy-leaf oak. There are white fibers on the leaf edges at times and the undersides are a downy white-gray. In late summer stems are...