Yesterday I came across a riot of deep fuchsia flowers growing on a spineless prickly pear bush. Or does it have another name in its tame, non-aggressive avatar? I wish I knew, but looking up on the Internet, all I could find is that Opuntia ficus indica could be found in a spineless version, but then it was supposed to have yellow/orangey flowers, which is quite obviously not the case here.
I got a bit crazy with my camera on this one…
Believe me, I have another dozen similar pictures. An interesting fact, which I was totally unaware of until yesterday, is that the paddles of this cactus can be eaten too. I knew of prickly pear (the fruit), of course, although I don't remember ever having tasted it, but the paddles (nopales, as they are called in Mexico) are a discovery. All the recipes I could find went on and on about the best way to remove the spines. And here I am, with a ready source for spineless paddles... I will try some of the recipes as soon as I can! meanwhile, I selected a few paddles to plant in my garden. The process seems pretty straightforward and foolproof. Exactly what I need!
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