Outdoors I'm only growing the regionally native Opuntias which need no special winter care. It's a tiny patch on my gravel driveway, roughly 3 ft x 1 ft. They must be happy as they gave the biggest bloom display ever at 100+ flowers this year (I stopped counting at 117, or something like that). Indoors I have some windowsill cactus that after 13 years are getting quite large! And the comments regarding glochids are absolutely right. OUCH !! I tried crossing Opuntia violacea with my garden Opuntias, but I lost the seedlings when I neglected the nursery bed and it got over run with grass. I was really annoyed about that. I should try again some time.... Dennis in Cincinnati