Stepfix: We have a large nopal plant in a big pot. We rooted a pad bought in a Mexican food market. You can let the cut place on a pad callus over and then root it like any other cactus. If it is upright, the roots will form on the cut end. If it is lying on its side, roots will form on the underneath side of it, and after that, it will make pads in the normal pattern, but take longer to really do anything. We rooted this pad almost exactly 2 years ago and have already been enjoying eating some of the tender new pads it has made. The older pads have grown enormous and tough!

I have a super nice neighbor and my north end backyard fence forms about half of his back fence. A few years ago, I had been working endless to cut all of the roots that ran 5-6 feet into the area that I had planned to plant and increase the size of my garden. My neighbor came over so I stopped and came inside and got some soft drinks and we just sat in the lawn chairs in which was once a back yard where I had created a small corner as a garden. We visited for awhile and he stood up and picked up the trimmers and went over to the Virginia Creeper where he had seen me trying to trim it back. He trimmed for a few minutes and sat back down. Within minutes, the entire vine that ran 20 feet along the fence began to wilt. He had unintentionally cut the main stem coming from the root and it took out the whole vine. I was so grateful and wished that I had known where the main stem on the other one came out, so I could have him trim there too. I don't know if they grow the same everywhere, but in my yard the roots will crawl on the surface of the ground for 6 feet straight out from the plant, in addition to the underground ones. When you mow the grass you can see them and it looks like little snakes crawling under the fence. They have made me jump more than once, but most of them are finally gone. They do look pretty on a farm fence or in the woods but in an area that gets a lot of rain they can become monsters in a hurry.

There are two culprits here -- 1) yes, sawfly larvae (aka rose slugs) are chewing the leaves, and will continue to munch them down until they leave the bare mid-vein, and 2) the round holes at the edges, looking like they were made with a hole-puncher, were done by leaf-cutter bees -- they don't eat the leaves, and tend to have just one period of activity when they cut foliage to line their nests. :-) ~Christopher

Hey fluff, could it be that big white rabbit costume you wear when you're working? Easters right around the corner ya know. "Hey is that a carrot in your pocket or is your secretary coming to work in that mini skirt again?" :-o :-)