A cactarium or cactuario (from Latin, cactarium) is a
garden dedicated to the planting of
cacti. While they generally specialize in collecting cacti, they can also include other desert plants such as
sabla,
agaves or
Crassulaceae, although this would better be termed "
xeriscaping".
Cacti are
succulent plants native to the American continent, typical of arid environments. They require dry conditions and therefore, in many countries, the collections are kept in greenhouses that protect from rain. Due to their low need for water, they are a sustainable
landscaping option.[1]
Cactariums also tend to host plants from other botanical families, native to the
desert regions of the world.
History
A cactus garden is a garden for the cultivation and display with many types of cacti.[2][3]
Cacti, due to their unusual appearance for Europeans, attracted the attention of the first
European colonizers of Americas and were brought to Europe as
ornamental plants already in the
16th century.
The first known collection of cacti was collected in the second half of the 16th century by the pharmacist Morgan in
London. Popularity of these plants constantly grew, which was also facilitated by the biological characteristics of many cacti – tolerance of infrequent watering[4] and dry air (the latter is essential for room culture), and easy
vegetative reproduction. Also, indoor types of cacti (in particular
Rebutia) can be moved in pots to the garden during summer.[5] In
botanical gardens of many European countries as well as in private
greenhouses, significant collections have been accumulated.