I didn't want to be a plant snob. So I told myself I at least appreciated some merits of the homely cactus. The prickly pear, after all, is a role model for water conservation. The flowers are pretty ...

The desert prickly-pear, known to botanists as Opuntia phaeacantha, is the Southwest's most widespread and abundant species of cactus. Unlike the giant saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea) that is restricted ...

News flash: If you’re new to succulents, beware the prickly pear. It is the one cactus that strikes fear into every desert gardener, and now the drought has made these cactuses available far and wide.

Michelle, 25, tells PEOPLE that, as she and the 6-year-old dog approached the end of the street, Jax "suddenly" pulled ...

In parts of Texas, the prickly pear cactus is everywhere — potted outside coffee shops, dotting the side of the road, poking out of cracks in the sidewalk. It also lines the pathways of the University ...

Walnut Creek’s Ruth Bancroft is a national authority on drought-resistant gardening. Twice a month, she and her staff share their knowledge with readers. Q We have a large, old (probably about 40 ...

It began innocently enough. While trail running at the El Modena Open Space in Orange a few years ago, I lost my balance and threw out my arms for stability. That’s when I backhanded a coastal prickly ...

The fruit of the Opuntia Ficus-Indica might be better known as a prickly pear or tunas in Spanish, but Claudia Villalobos, a sales specialist with the farm, prefers cactus pears. The name sounds less ...