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 ...

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 ...

A night of holiday-party drinking doesn't have to be painful the next morning, thanks to a common desert plant. The fruit of the prickly pear cactus is a lean, mean hangover-fighting machine. Grown in ...

TOKYO - Farmers in Japan are cooking up new menus for health-conscious Japanese, with dishes like quiche, pizza toast, skewers, tempura and cold Chinese noodles. They share a common but somewhat ...

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 ...

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 ...

If you're looking to broaden your fruit horizons beyond the quotidien, consider the many ways to eat prickly pears. Also known as cactus pear, this delectable desert fruit grows on shrub-size cactus ...

In this video, I demonstrate how to create a tool from a giant cane stem to safely harvest thorny prickly pear fruit from the Opuntia cactus. After securing the stem with purple cordage and using ...

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.