Actual size and flowering may vary slightly based on season.
Kelly's Choice Prickly Pear
Kelly's Choice Prickly Pear is a compact garden prickly pear from beavertail parentage, with rounded, soft-looking pads and intense pink flowers in spring. It spreads wider than it is tall, about 1 to 4 feet tall and 3 to 5 feet across, and it keeps its pads all year. Like beavertail, it has few long spines but plenty of glochids, the tiny barbed hairs that stick at a touch.
Best for: desert and rock gardens, low mass plantings spaced 3 to 4 feet apart, and large patio pots.
It grows about 1 to 4 feet tall and spreads 3 to 5 feet, a compact size for a prickly pear. It spreads sideways faster when it gets more water.
Plant several 3 to 4 feet apart, center to center, for a low, spreading group. The pink flowers make a strong show together in spring.
Its compact size suits a large patio pot with a gritty mix and a drainage hole.
The glochids are hard to remove from skin, so plant it back from walks and play areas. It prefers dry soil in winter and rots if the soil stays wet.
- Tight group3 ft apart
- Plant to plant3-4 ft apart
Wait about a week after planting before the first water, then water about every other week through the first summer. Once rooted, a deep soak every 2 to 4 weeks in summer is plenty, with little or none in winter.
Wear thick leather gloves and use tongs or folded newspaper. To keep it in bounds, cut whole pads off at the joint with long-handled loppers.
It can be damaged below about 10°F. On frost nights, cover it with frost cloth or a sheet that reaches the ground, not plastic, and take it off in the morning.
It needs little or no fertilizer. If you feed it, use a light, diluted feeding in spring or early summer, never in fall or winter.
Drainage test first. Dig the hole and fill it with water. If water is still sitting in the hole a day later, you likely hit caliche, clay or hard soil, so fix the drainage before planting. If it drains very fast, the soil is sandy. Standing water around roots is a common reason new plants fail.
Weed cloth. Cut it away from the planting hole and where the roots will spread. Remove any plastic sheeting completely, since it keeps water and air out of the soil.
Rock or decomposed granite with no soil underneath. Bring in soil close in texture to your native soil, mix it with the soil below, and build up enough depth for roots before planting.
If you can break through. Use a breaker bar, pick, or jackhammer. Dig through the caliche and break out the solid chunks. Backfill with the soil you dug out, with no compost or manure in the hole. Confirm drainage before planting.
If you cannot break through. Dig narrow holes through the hard layer beside the root ball, not under it, and refill them with the same soil, not gravel. If it still will not drain, plant on a low mound of the same soil.
Root ball. Check the outside edges for any roots circling around. Loosen or cut those so they grow outward. Do not break up the center of the root ball.
Depth. The top of the root ball should sit at or just slightly above the surrounding soil level. Planting too deep can lead to rot and kill the plant.
Drip emitters. At planting, put the emitters on the root ball, on different sides of the plant. After about 2 months, move them to the outer edge of the root ball. Over the first year, add emitters farther out toward the edge of the branches as roots grow. Once a plant is rooted, never water only at the trunk.
How big does Kelly's Choice get?
It grows about 1 to 4 feet tall and 3 to 5 feet wide. It spreads sideways more when it gets extra water.
How far apart should I plant it?
About 3 to 4 feet apart, center to center. The Spacing tab counts plants for your bed.
When does it bloom?
Intense pink flowers open in spring, sometimes with more later in the year.
Does it have spines?
It has few long spines, like beavertail, but it is covered in glochids, tiny barbed hairs that are hard to get out of skin. Wear thick leather gloves and use tongs.
How often should I water it?
Once rooted, a deep soak every 2 to 4 weeks in summer is plenty. Keep it dry in winter.
How cold can it take?
It is rated to about 10°F, colder than a Valley winter usually gets.
Can it grow in a pot?
Yes. It is compact enough for a large pot. Use a gritty mix and a pot with a drainage hole.
Does it attract pollinators?
Yes. Bees and other pollinators visit the flowers.
Kelly's Choice Prickly Pear for sale in Arizona, delivered to you
Kelly's Choice Prickly Pear is a compact beavertail cross grown for its rounded pads and intense pink spring flowers. This page covers size, spacing, flowers, water, cold and handling in the Valley.
Sourced from trusted Arizona growers and delivered directly to your door, job site, or property. We deliver across the Valley and to nearby towns, and quote delivery anywhere else in Arizona.
What is Kelly's Choice prickly pear?
It is a compact prickly pear bred from beavertail, with rounded pads and intense pink spring flowers.
How big does Kelly's Choice get?
About 1 to 4 feet tall and 3 to 5 feet wide.
How far apart to plant Kelly's Choice
Plant it 3 to 4 feet apart, center to center.
Watering Kelly's Choice in Phoenix
A deep soak every 2 to 4 weeks in summer once rooted, and dry soil in winter.
Is Kelly's Choice cold hardy?
It is rated to about 10°F.
Glochids on a spineless-looking prickly pear
Few long spines does not mean safe to touch. Glochids come off at a touch, so use gloves and tongs.
We deliver across the Valley, from Phoenix, Scottsdale and Mesa out to San Tan Valley, Maricopa and Casa Grande, and up to Prescott, Sedona, Payson and Globe. See delivery areas and rates.