I suspect your problem is that this is the busy season for gardeners. The reason they're not getting back to you is because they don't have time.

Well, since conspiracy and crazy have more in common than both starting with the letter 'c', as we all know, I'm personally glad that this is stirring the Opuntia pot - great plant genus, from the Peace River in northern British Columbia to Tierra del Fuego - how can you not dig this cactus genus? And the only genus with glochids - yikes, it just gets better and better. Anyway, my point is that you might not want to depend solely on N. Lord Britton's description - something might have happened since then. Is your well-known expert updating what was originally described by NLB?

I was able to clear a large area of quack grass a few years ago by taking advantage of August drought. By spading up the entire area and turning the quack grass roots into the hot sun, they eventually cooked to death. The area is still free of that vermin today.

Posted by glenda_al "Are you married? tee hee" I know. I don't cook as well as many of you do. I must not be married right? LOL! Posted by Charcuterie "You food looks amazing! I love your plating and photography. The Asian serving platters is beautiful and fits perfectly. Do you have a blog or anything? If not you definitely should! The Char Siu came out incredibly delicious looking, I would love the recipe. When I make it, it's usually from a powdered mix at the Asian grocery store. The meat comes out radioactive red from the food dyes and the taste is rather meh. If you make it again save some to make steamed Chinese pork stuffed buns aka char siu bao. " Thank you. The Asian platter was bought cheap because it is chipped. The char siu recipe is a typical recipe. Except I don't use red coloring. The sous vide makes it kind of pink anyway. I sometimes add a little balsamic vinegar in the marinate. I never seem to have leftovers for bao. LOL. No, I don't have a blog or WEB page. Haven't had the time at this point. Posted by bumblebeez "Beautiful as always but it's nice to see some carbs too. I don't recall seeing a pie from you before and that's a great design." Thank you. I make pie once in a while. I don't post the pies because I have not tried to make the dough myself like you guys.. dcarch