Devon Viola

Currently the only prickly pear I am offering for sale is Opuntia humifusa, the low-growing native species found throughout the Eastern US. That is because I'm unsure of the species ID or native range for my other prickly pears. Also because Opuntia humifusa is the only one I have that seems to remain totally disease-free after planting outside. (Even this summer when it rained nearly every day for weeks!)

Sorry to show off things that aren't for sale in my advertising thread, but... I also have this unidentified one from Arizona that flowered the last 2 years!

Greg Martin wrote:Devon, is that lovely cactus as large as it looks in your picture, or one of those closer to the camera effects?

BTW, love your nursery offerings!

Thank you kindly!

I was crouching next to the cactus, which was about 3 feet tall at the time. It has since flopped over. Still quite a bit taller than the local wild prickly pears, which grow as a ground cover.

Bumping this thread because Fall shipping is now open for 2026.
I have added a bunch of new species to the catalog, including american elderberry, seedlings of John Hershey's american persimmons and honey locust, sand cherries, choke cherries, chokeberries, hackberries (they taste so much better than the names imply LOL), wild strawberries, and more!

Mad Garden specializes in genetically diverse, resilient, native and food-producing plants of the Eastern US and beyond.
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I grow a curated variety of trees and seeds on my 1/4 acre nursery (inspected and certified in the state of New Jersey) using no-till methods. All the plants are highly resilient specimens, grown in natural low-input conditions with no irrigation, no chemicals, and no special care (just love). I select mostly native plants that perform well under a wide range of conditions. Products include beach plum, persimmon, and chestnut seedlings; lofthouse sunroots; a direct-seed tomato seed mix; and more.

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Bare-root tree seedlings ship in Fall or Spring. Order now for fall shipping and select which week you want your order to ship. (Transplanting trees is a great activity to do on Thanksgiving morning!)

Here's the progression of the garden in the last 6 months! I created no-dig beds by laying about 2 inches of compost on top of the winter-killed weeds. I mulched the walkways with leaves.

My new plot also get slightly more sun than last year's plot right behind it, which was more acutely wedged into the surrounding woods. I have tree seedlings in the old back plot, and both tree seedlings and vegetables in the newer plot with the compost-topped beds.

The addition of compost has produced tremendous growth compared to last year. It's also rained way, way more than last year. Because last year's squash and melons were so skinny, yellow, and unproductive, I expected the same and planted things too close together. Now I can't walk through 4 of my beds. Good problem to have.

Christopher Weeks wrote:I'm planting things like black locust and walnuts far north of their traditional range in preparation for changing times and I guess I don't care too much what the state naturalists think.

I've heard the idea more than once that, here on the east coast, planting native trees from a few states south of you is becoming an important thing to do.
As someone with a vested interest in tree diversity I've been walking around a local university that has really excellent landscaping-- it's essentially an arboretum. I'm impressed with the diversity of native species that were planted in the last 50 years. I also can't help but notice the preponderance of 20-ish year old native southeast trees whose native range doesn't quite reach here.

Lofthouse sunroots grew barely taller than shown in this photo. But they still produced more tubers than I planted.

Corn also didn't love my shady sandy field. Some intrepid plants grew tall anyway, only to be devoured by deer. I planted corn elsewhere that did much better. The photo attached is one of the few special corns that survived shade, sand, drought, and deer.

Peppers did quite well-- the same varieties that did well growing under the shade of my corn last year. Buena Mulata and Fish Pepper, which are heirlooms from nearby. I also planted piri-piri this year, and they were great too. No other varieties were productive, but those 3 are amazing.

Direct seed tomatoes grew and they produced fruit on small, skinny plants. Currant, cherry, and a few salad sized tomatoes in red, pink, and yellow. A couple of the fruits were hairy. Tomatoes were not plentiful nor tasty by my standards, as someone who doesn’t like currant tomatoes. The hard part is getting them to also be tasty.

Carrots did ok.

Nothing else in the landrace breeding garden was noteworthy. Except maybe that I tragically harvested no potatoes at all.

I was pleased with garbanzos. First time growing those, too. The plants were so small I expected nothing, but like the favas, they did produce a seed increase.

Hey, a shame I didn’t update this til now, huh?
Between work and finishing my degree, the time really got away from me.

In summary, the whole garden did terribly! Brutal year of selection. But the things I was able to harvest seeds from, now I know they’re tough.

Favas produced a seed increase, but not enough to eat yet. By the time they bore green pods it was hot out, and about half of them died. The remainder produced mostly purple and green seeds. It was interesting to see ants farming black aphids on the stems.

Looking forward to growing them again soon.

Greg Martin wrote:I'd love that!  Do you have some now for sale or should I wait for the fall?

I have some that I harvested in October. If you're interested in those send me a message.