Strangely, this year autumn is seeing a flush of growth far beyond the usual amount. We also have snow flurries predicted for today and tomorrow! Most unusual.
This prickly pear in against a walkway wall at City Hall, on Main Street just north of the Farmers Market area. I think you'll agree it has beautiful, delicate colors. When nature combines them, the hues harmonize perfectly.
Thank you for dropping by.
We have many cholla cactuses growing out here, some in the wild landscape, some in medians, and some in the home yards. One of the most popular chollas to grow is the "Teddy Bear Cholla," which is a very deceiving name. While the stickers give the look of thick fur, the painful reality is that it is studded with thousands of these spines.
The Jumping Cholla doesn't jump, of course, but you might think the segments of the cactus actually do, because it's so easy to get stuck by them. They seems to be everywhere, even where you looked just a moment earlier.
Our photo shows the beautiful red fruits of a totally wild cholla growing near the Dripping Springs area, the Christmas Cholla. These are tiny fruits; less than the size of a grape.
Be careful when picking up cholla fruits: They have many invisible spines. You won't see them, but you will feel them.
Come enjoy the wild landscape of Las Cruces, New Mexico.
In Las Cruces, prickly pear cactus is everywhere. The flat pads are edible when young, and are called "nopals" espcially when referred to as food items. I grew up in the South and we tended to call prickly pears "beavertails." But here, they are "nopals." I was just reading some research about how eating nopal is evidently very good for diabetics, especially those with Type II diabetes. They are full of fiber, and that's thought to help maintain blood sugar at safe levels.
They flourish here! The blooms I have seen here are either yellow or magenta, and they are beautiful in spring. They set many small fruits called..."tunas." In the fall, they are ripe and many do harvest them to eat. You have to be VERY careful of tiny, basically invisible stickers/spines in them that look like tiny areas of white. It's actually a myriad of tiny spines forming those white spots on the tuna.
Some people make jelly from them, because they yield a lovely color, if not much flavor. But they are also beautiful just left in the landscape for visual interest.
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