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 ...

Learn how to propagate a prickly pear cactus in your own yard. Over the centuries–in the course of adapting to harsh soil and climatic conditions–prickly pears (Opuntia) have developed the ability to ...

Along the coast, this buck and doe are dining on prickly pear cactus, and further inland, a hungry javelina munches a thorny ...

Enrique Villaseñor is at the head of the classroom, extolling the many unsung virtues of the prickly pear cactus. “It’s often referred to as poor people’s food,” he explains, “but did you know that it ...

Opuntia, the prickly pear cactus, originated in South America, moved into the valleys of the Andes and then north into Mexico and North America. In Southern California, opuntia grows in the coastal ...