reccommendations for plants in dry soil?

I have a patch of garden where the soil is dry and powdery, it gets full sun, and it's under the eaves, so it doesn't get much water besides what I give it. I'm in Wisconsin, zone 5, but since it's sheltered (south side of the house) and sunny, it stays relatively warm there in the winter. I'd consider it zone 6. It's warmer in the summer too, because of a brick wall. Do you have any suggestions as to what sort of plants would grow well there?

One thing I've been wanting for that area is a prickly pear. Can anyone tell me where I can buy one? I've looked around a bit online, but couldn't find anyone.

Prickly pears are cacti. There are different varieties, and some may take Wisconsin winters, but I'd be surprised. The "Texas" variety can take down to 20 or 22 degrees. Aren't your winters much more severe than that? Dave's has the PlantFiles section. You might want to look at all the varieties and check on their cold hardiness. For your search just enter "prickly pear" under Common Name. That's all you have to fill in.
Very few plants, even succulents, are going to grow in powder. At some point they are going to have to have water.

Yes, it can get very cold here, but I know prickly pears survive here, since I see them around. A friend of mine had a healthy sized "bush" at the house he bought a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, he tore it out and threw it away, and didn't know I wanted one. I see that the Graham's Pricklypear is listed to survive to 0°. That might be the one that people have in this area.

The space gets occasional rain (when the wind is right), and I do water it. I'm just looking for plants that will survive if I miss watering, or go on vacation for a week. And I'm going to try to put a little more organic matter in the soil. I just don't know how effective I'll be.

Thanks!

This message was edited Aug 2, 2009 2:45 PM

I know that Opuntia humifusa is one of a couple species that are hardy in your area--I don't know if that's the particular one you were looking for or not but there are a couple vendors listed in Plant Scout.
http://davesgarden.com/products/ps/go/62234/

adding organic material, amending the soil, is always a good thing and eventually you will see results. i would dig in some good leaf mold and compost and then cover with a mulch like pine bark. wet it down once in a while. just let that sit for a season and you'd be amazed at the difference. i think you should also check out native plant societies in your area for carefree plant ideas. the prickly pear idea sounds like a good one.

The optunias that are native here root with ridiculous ease. I saw a leaf, or paddle, or whatever cacti and other succulent people call them, lying flat on the ground at an arboretum the other day, behind the plant from which it had broken off. There were probably ten young plants growing nicely spaced along the leaf. I imagine this is one of those plants about which people say a sure way to kill one is to be overly kind to it.

I don't know about all varieties, but ours are in bloom now. They are yellow and very pretty.

i don't know this vendor so i can't tell you they are ok to buy from, but the list they supply gives you a pretty good amount of cold hardy Opuntias to choose from and there are pictures and info about each one. check out garden watchdog before you buy anything online. http://coldhardycactus.com/Pages/Opuntia.htm

ecrane, I wasn't looking for any particular type. I hadn't seen the plantscout feature. Thanks.

trackinsand, the thought of native plants had crossed my mind. I hadn't thought of a society. Thanks. And thanks for the link. I'll keep an eye on them.

dp72, I had a pad once, and failed to get it to root. I assume I was too kind.

All this talk about cacti, has me thinking about xeriscaping, but I doubt if I'll go that way. Does anyone have any suggestions for flowers that don't need a whole lot of water?

How much rain does your area get? Some plants suited for xeriscaping are not accustomed to accomodating a lot of rain and will rot.

It's hard to say how much rain that spot gets, since it's under the eaves. I almost never see the dirt wet at the back. There are too many open questions regarding xeriscaping, as well as the fact that I don't know anything about it, so I really doubt I'll go that way. :-) I might be able to find some ideas that I could use, though.

If others can grow prickly pears in your climate, then you should be able too. We get twice as much rain as where they are "native," but they do fine anyway.

i think Opuntias are one of the toughest of all cacti. there are so many species and they are extremely adaptable. our native florida species can take hot and dry or hot and wet and tolerate some freezing weather also, for short periods. it doesn't seem to matter to them. i think if they were exposed to wet and freezing cold it would be another story but yours up there would be adapted to your climate.

check out this link: http://wisplants.uwsp.edu/BCW/

This message was edited Aug 3, 2009 9:39 AM

Xeriscaping could be as simple as planting things that are native to your area--as dp72 mentioned a lot of the plants that people typically associate with xeriscaping are not suitable for climates that get more natural rainfall than the areas they're native to. I would define xeriscaping as planting things that will survive in your area without much (if any) supplemental watering. When you live in the desert and get less than 10 inches of rain a year that will be one sort of plants (which are what most people tend to think of a plants for xeriscaping), but when you live in an area like Wisconsin that probably gets more like 30 inches a year the desert plants may drown, but there are plenty of other plants that could survive fine on 30 inches a year.

Opuntia humifusa, O. macrorhiza, and O. fragilis are all native to WI so any of them should do fine for you, and you wouldn't even necessarily have to put them in that specially sheltered and extra dry area--they should do fine anywhere in your garden as long as you're not doing a lot of supplemental watering.

Hmm. this could get tricky. If the right storms come through, the site could get very wet. I think I'll just go for the standard "drought tolerant" flowers, that can go without water sometimes. And a prickly pear. :-)

Thanks for your help, all!