I don't know what it is, but I'm glad you posted this. I've had something similar happen to mine. They were blooming really nicely then buds began to be damaged before they opened. I don't know if it's coincidence or not, but things seemed to improve after I sprayed them with a mix of insecticidal soap and neem oil.

Perched Water Table (PWT) is by definition has to do with gravity. Gravity is supposed to pull everything down and yet you find saturated layer of soil in containers and on certain geological formations on earth. That saturated layer of soil that seemingly defies gravity is PWT. There does not need to have a impenetrable layer to have a PWT. Take a very wet sponge and let it drain and then hang it in air. There will still be substantial water in the sponge that you can squeeze out. That water is held in there by capillary forces and gravity cannot overcome it. Same happens when there is a coarse layer of soil below finer layer of soil. The coarse layer has much less capillary force compared to the finer layer and thus the finer layer holds on to the water - just like the sponge in air. Gravity always has an impact. The capillary forces are also powerful. The height of PWT determined by both when they cancel each other out. Finer the soil, smaller is the air space and higher is the capillary force pulling water along the surface of the particle. Capillary force depends on the size of the air space. Size of the particle is incidental here. You can get the same effect using a very fine glass tube. If you dip one end in water the water will rise up through the tube because of capillary action. Finer the tube's inner diameter the larger is the upward force. Your balloon example is also incorrect. Try to wet very fine dry peat moss and you will be frustrated. On the other hand once it gets a little wet it can absorb lot more water. Hydrophobicity occurs with some types of particles such as peat moss because the adhesive force between water and the particle is much weaker than the cohesive force between water molecules. In case of peat moss, the adhesive force is very low when dry but increases tremendously once slightly wet.

The existing thorns appear to be relatively large. When I was younger, I (and my peers) learned how to remove the thorns and were able to get the thorns to adhere to our skin. Sometimes, trying to be a rhino. We wanted large thorns.

Thank you for the reassurance. I'm probably a small step beyond a newbie. I spent a couple years taking care of a few hybrid teas in a previous home. I got some good blooms but never succeeded in developing the shape of the entire plants. I can recognize mildew and black spot, but not much more than that. There's not much to Mister Lincoln at this point, but I hoping to get it to a nice full plant. Now I need to look up Mohs...