New Prickly Pear Cactus

Nice......

This was one of my mom's favorites GT. She had a giant desert garden that she grew her cactuses in against her green house wall on the outside. It was on the hottest side of the greenhouse and it was walled in with it's own glass too...they did great and got very big. Have you tried eating the prickly pear? I know they are edible, but I have never tried it.

Lovely one nice light colour too.

I'd heard they are edible too Cat. Maybe we'll have to take a trip up there GT and we can sample some of yours. LOL
This is a nice plant. They grow wild around here too but they aren't quite as flat and big as this one. Our wild ones have segments that are more "pear shaped".

GT:

That looks very familiar. LOL!

looks healthy and happy..;-))

Thank you for the comments. This one had all the barbs trimmed off like it was about to be eaten. :-)

Cat, where my parents live they have fences of the prickly pear though the variety for those have much larger segments. This one is smaller and more like what I expect you have wild Gilli. The pot next to it in this picture is only about 10 inches tall. In Idaho we had them this size, these paddles are only about two or three inches long. We had them wild all over the mountains too. The barbs are particularly wicked on these compared to the varieties used for gardening and eating in the temperate zones. Those milder bigger varieties are what I'm expecting you are seeing all over in San Diego Delonix, similar to my parents locale in the southwest border of Utah. I'm particularly fond of them for the big and beautiful spring bloom. Have you grown these Sandra?

I have always been curious to eat them, of course the spikes are removed. Those big fence type varieties are the ones traditionally eaten in the southwest and mexico. Much more bang than this little slow grower. :-) I wonder what the flavor is like. I've only had cactus candy, a sugary gel made from this variety.

yes i have seen Delonix pics..they are awesome...you and your parents live in such different environments...u have ice fences they have cactus ones....lol

Very true. Opposites in contrast. I love their area, but I would miss the quiet here.

we call them "spiky Mickey Mouse" here... (Mickey Espinhento)

I'd say our wild ones are even smaller GT. I'll have to try and get some pics next summer. They only grow a couple of inches tall here and have wicked spines.

That is a wonderful name for them Aleyna. They do look like Mickey ears. :-)

Gilli, in the Rockies in Idaho they were wild all over, little and close to the ground and very very wicked. A prick could fester for weeks from those spikes. Greensis took one from our hometown and placed it in her rock garden where it is doing wonderfully. Here's a link so you can compare to what you have there in you're country.

http://www.growsonyou.com/photo/slideshow/32506-desert-garden/member/GreenSis

Thanks GT....I had a look at Greensis' photo. They still seem bigger than ours. I "borrowed" a photo of a Kamloops Prickly Pear and posted it under my photos if you'd like to have a look. :o)

I've never eaten the leaf of the prickly pear cactus, GT but I have enjoyed the prickly pears themselves. I have some pictures of the huge sized cactus on this site; They will give you an idea of how large they can grow!!

My parents near St George Utah have neighbors that have them as fencing! Just enormous! I'll have to come see yours too. Interestingly there are mediterrenean spots where the prickly pear is tradition to eat, and its a western hemisphere native. :-) Makes me laugh everytime I think of that.

Noone and nothing will dear to breach that fence!! lol.