Prickly pear - Dry Garden

"My dry garden is exposed to spring today. The sun gives energy to my succulent plants. Winter is moving away!"

The prickly pear is undoubtedly the best known and most widespread cactus plant in the world. It shows erect or slightly prostrate stems, with an oval or flattened shape, with a diameter of thirty or seventy centimeters; they are fleshy, with a bright green hue and with few pointed thorns. The flowers, which arise from the beginning of spring and throughout the summer, have the shape of a cup, yellow or orange in colour, placed on the sides of the stem. The fruits are oval, ten to fifteen centimeters long, with a fleshy consistency and a green color that changes to purple red once they have ripened.