Greetings from Your Friends at Prickly Ed's Cactus Patch, Roadside Stand, Apothecary & Native Plant Emporium

August 23, 2022

The Native Plant Emporium (Roadside Stand) at Prickly Ed's Cactus Patch is open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11-4 through September 25th.

Roadside Stand openings are weather dependent, stay tuned to our Facebook and Instagram Pages for the latest details.

What Will You Find at the Roadside Stand?

Our grown on site "red pot" perennials are selling out fast but we still have a few great ones remaining. All remaining red pots are now on sale!

3 for $25.00 or

Prickly Ed's Dozen (13 plants) for $100.00

Mix and match from the interesting varieties still available which include American Mountain Mint, Common Boneset, Hyssop Leaved Thoroughwort, Nodding Onion, Culver's Root, Calico Beardtongue, White Turtlehead, Blue False Indigo, Rose Mallow, Tiarella Foamflowers, Alumroot (Native Coral Bells), Coastal Joe Pye Weed, Columbine, Pale Purple Coneflower, Woodland Phlox and More!

Also offering a limited variety of native landscape ready plant plugs in some of our most popular varieties. These are just $3.75 each or 3 for $10.00! Get them while they last.

Varieties include Cardinal Flower, Giant Hyssop, Rattlesnake Master, Wild Bergamot, Scarlet Bee Balm, Spotted Bee Balm. Wild Columbine (get it in the ground now for early spring blooms), Tall Garden Phlox, Woodland Stonecrop, Brown Eyed Susan, Oxeye/False Sunflower and Obedient Plant (False Dragonhead)

Larger native plants also available, including gallon sized perennials and 2-3 gallon shrubs - priced as marked at the Stand.

Current varieties include a wonderful native honeysuckle Lonicera sempervirens, Butterfly Milkweed, Swamp Milkweed, Low Bush Blueberry, Bayberry, Clethra (straight species and 'Hummingbird'), Viburnum, Black Chokeberry, Cinnamon Fern, Christmas Fern, Goatsbeard, Purple Coneflower, Blue Lobelia, Cardinal Flowers, Purple Lovegrass, 'Standing Ovation' Little Bluestem, 'Ruby Slippers' Oakleaf Hydrangea, Bearberry Groundcover, Blue Flag Iris, 'Jacob Cline' Bee Balm, New York Aster, Black Cohosh, Marsh Marigold and Smooth (Foxglove) Penstemon

Now accepting credit cards along with cash and Venmo.

Send Us a Message

See More Details About the Roadside Stand

Join Us on Facebook

URI Master Gardener Free Soil Testing Event and Garden Advice Kiosk happening Saturday, August 27 from 9-12 at Prickly Ed's

Putting the right plant in the right place is an essential component of gardening, and the soil is at the root of garden success. It is important to test your soil every few years. To take a sample use a spade to collect a thin slice of soil from the root zone, about 6 inches down. Take about 1⁄2 cup from each of several spots in the same area (for example, the lawn or the vegetable garden) and mix them together. Allow the soil to air dry on newspapers. Put about 1 cup of the mixed soil into a clean plastic or paper bag and label it with the area it came from. Bring your soil samples to the Roadside Stand between 9am - 12pm on Saturday, August 27th and the URI Master Gardeners will test the texture and PH for free. Master Gardeners will also be on hand to answer your garden questions.

Learn More about URI Master Gardener Soil Testing Services

Native Plants are for the Birds!

A single breeding pair of chickadees needs 6,000 - 9,000 caterpillars to raise a clutch of young. Planting native plants and eliminating pesticide use is essential to ensuring that birds have the foods they need. Two of our favorite websites for learning more about planting for birds are:

2/3 for the Birds

Audubon Native Plant Database

Plant in Layers for Maximum Benefits

Fall is a great time for planting. Warm soil and cooler temperatures make for happy plants. But before you get digging consider the overall plan for creating the very best habitat you can right outside your door.

The best way to plan happy habitat for pollinators, songbirds and beneficial creatures is to closely study nature. In nature life thrives best when different ecosystems intersect. Where this happens layers of habitat form. Fundamental to habitat creation is shelter for animal and insect residents so they can hide from predators, build nests, and find protection from the elements. Unfortunately, typical suburban landscapes that consist of large swaths of open mowed lawn with one or two trees in the middle surrounded by mulch is the exact opposite of protective habitat; there is no place to hide from overhead or ground predators, or shelter from cold winter winds and driving rains.

So let's think about layers in an ideal habitat. The canopy layer is made up trees - large and small down to shrubs and vines of different heights and sizes. Place trees and shrubs near each other to best meet the varied needs of lots of different songbirds. Next comes the herbaceous layer, your native perennials that offer seasonal interest. This is typically the showy part of your garden. Be sure to include perennials of varying heights and plan for blooming from spring through fall. For the very best design impact and maximum benefit to pollinators and wildlife plant multiples of the same variety in clumps. Landscape plugs can be a more economical way to plant in large numbers.

The final layer is the ground layer. Green mulch is made up of low growing plants, native groundcovers, sedges, ferns and more that soften the areas between taller plants and provide cover and foraging areas. And underneath it all is healthy soil. Testing your soil is a great way to gain a better understanding of what's going on underground. Read more about how designer Kelly Norris considers planting in natural layers HERE.

Special Orders are our Specialty!

Space at our Roadside Stand is limited and thus, so is our stock. We try to always have a wide variety of interesting items on hand, but do sell out of many items quickly. However, if you are looking for something we don't carry, wanted something we were sold out of when you arrived or need larger quantities than we have available we are happy to take special orders and will do our best to source what you are looking for from one of our reputable wholesalers. Most items can be here ready for you to pick up within a few days. We can also provide local delivery of larger orders. Message us to discuss your native plant needs!

Send a Message

Always Available, Prickly Pear Cactus Pads

The inspiration for our name, Prickly Pear - Opuntia humifuso - is grown on site and is always available. Rhode Island's native cactus is a wonderful addition to a sandy, sunny area of your yard. Our large cactus patch is thriving even during this year's heat and severe drought. Cactus pads are available any time and can be used to start your own cactus garden.

Learn More About the Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus

New to Our Mailing List?

Thanks for joining! If you'd like to take a look at some of our prior newsletters and the resources provided you can view them on our website.

READ PRIOR NEWSLETTERS HERE

Know someone who would enjoy reading our news? Share this message using the buttons below.

Share This Email

Prickly Ed's Cactus Patch

6 Barneyville Road,

Barrington, RI 02806-2715

(401) 248-4785

Please note, use the address above for mailing or for GPS but the Roadside Stand/Native Plant Emporium is located in Swansea, MA directly next door to the address listed above. Just look for the sign and for the big red barn.

Email Us

Prickly Ed's Cactus Patch, Roadside Stand, Apothecary and Native Plant Emporium is a super small, hyperlocal, roadside stand located directly on the border of Barrington, RI and Swansea, MA focused on making the area a little bit wilder one yard at a time! Offering great native plants, prickly pear cactus, magic dirt, unusual pollinator friendly annuals, organic herb and vegetable plants, lots of solicited and unsolicited advice & random curiosities designed to get your yard really buzzing. You can read all about us on our website, including the story of where the name Prickly Ed's Cactus Patch came from.