Edwards, Mississippi: World's Only Cactus Plantation (Closed)

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.