Edwards, Mississippi: World's Only Cactus Plantation

Cactus Plantation is still open but only on weekends, Saturday til 5 and Sunday 1-5. Cactus population is way down, but he does get some and will ship them if you let him know your name and number so he can get your address. Looks like he's down to one building and has mostly those Brom... plants.

The Cactus Plantation is still open, but hurry... John's 81 and has had three major surgeries. He told me he's looking for a buyer to carry on the business. He also said I should tell all my friends he's still open for business, albeit much smaller than in happier times. He used to have 10 greenhouses, now he's got 2 - one on the property and another one down the road that's got nothing but bromeliads in it. The one I was in was about one quarter full of Easter lilies, seein' as how we were just 4 days away from Easter... John said he'd been delivering lilies all morning.

I didn't get there via the interstate - I took Rte 467 off the Natchez Trace Parkway. If you're driving around Edwards, looking for the correct road, Cemetary (sic) Road, look for the water tower. Cemetary Road begins south of the water tower. (At no time did I see the word Cemetery spelled correctly.)

The last we heard the owner was closing the business. His wife has passed away and he is aging. That's a shame. It was a fun place to visit.

I thought Mississippi a very unusual place for cacti. And it's not exactly a "plantation" like I imagined. It's basically a nice old man with a couple of big greenhouses full of cacti. Almost all of them are for sale, and I'm sure he'll take pride in showing you his exotic $600 cactus. He did have a lot of cacti that I've never seen before, including albino! He boasts 3,500 varieties in all. He also has a big barn full of all sorts of junk for sale. (hopefully you'll be there when a train goes by behind the place. Everything shakes!) But the adventure didn't end there. Turns out the place is a historical site -- the surrounding area was a civil war battlefield, Champion Hill. He sold me a book on the subject and told me on the way out to go straight east on Champion Hill road. (the long way back to the freeway). This detour takes you through the center of the battlefield, which consists of beautiful misty wooded areas and a field of cotton.