Hi Carol I tried googling the poster you mentioned and nothing came up - in fact, nothing remotely rose related came up, though there were some fun family dinner table conversations to state your "rose" of the day and "thorn" of the day. If you can find a link, you might want to start a new thread on this topic, since people might not find it at the bottom of this one. Resurrecting this one gives the chance to respond to some responses I'd missed back when. Yep, thorns wedged under nails are a nightmare, and once sent me to the urgent care center to get it removed when it got full of pus and infected. My twins were little at the time, so I got to prep them for how mommy had to have the doctor do something owie and she was going to be brave and not even cry (much). They seemed impressed, but it doesn't take much when you're two. All of you that garden in protective gear are of course wise, though I've found that rose thorns can slash you through most clothing if persistent. I remember a rose cane getting stuck under my shirt at pruning time (probably the sneaky octopus Teasing Georgia). THOSE were scratches I was glad not to have to explain to folks at work. Littlelizzy - if anyone asks about the scar, you can say it wasn't suicide but cold-hearted murder attempts by a rose - hey, they're living creatures too! I envy those of you who are careful enough to hold roses barehanded without mishap. I can do it for a few moments, but I'm easily distracted when gardening, and disaster is always looming. And Beth, that brings up an interesting point about rose thorns - sympathies on all the blood, BTW. Have any of you found that rose thorn punctures seem to bleed a lot longer than other types of pokes and injuries? I'll have a rose cane thwack me in the arm and wipe away blood from what seems like a small injury. Then a few moments later, there'll be a pea-sized swelling of blood that trails down my arm. Wipe that away, and it's back a minute later. This can go on for 10 minutes or more at times. I wonder if it's something related to the wedge shape of the thorns, that something that looks relatively innocuous is much deeper or wider than it looks. Regardless, it's one of the necessary hazards of rose gardening. Seil - it's both encouraging and discouraging that these hazards are of my own doing. The positive is that I choose to rejoice that thorns have roses and put up with them for the flowers' sakes. The negative is that I'm doomed once the roses grow up to full height, since I plant everything much closer than custom or common sense would dictate, and I am reduced to a weird weaving stepping around the few tiny open spaces available come fall. No wonder the thorns are out to get me - I've asked for it. Cynthia

When my kids were little, I bought a great little tool at my local drug store. It's a short,very sharp tweezers with a magnifier attached. Great for splinters,bug stingers, cactus thorns. Soaking in water,even showering, also helps dislodge the tiny tiny thorns you can't see.

I didn't water mine hardly all winter. I think I am talking one a monthâ¦or less. Now it is our in the sun, I just transplanted it (18" tall , I think). It is a bigger pot and plant. And I don't normally talk to people who live in Z 5 about growing cactus because I am in 8B and it is A LOT different down here. They have a bit of cold hardiness if THEY ARE DRY. I water in the summer , once every week if I am bumping 100F but otherwise I keep it outside in the sun and I water once in two weeks. If I get too much rain , I move the pot under the porch roof. That is my winter spot. The low winter sun hits it but the water does not. I only moved it in Once when it got close to 16F out their. I think there is some frost scarring under the hair but all in all it is an attractive plant. I don't pull my hair out over the details. here are some pictures of it from a couple of years ago. I have no recent pictures.

Duct tape can usually pull out the tiny little spines (called glochids) but since you are already welted, that may really irritate things even more. Another thing to try is soaking the afflicted areas in epsom-salt water, which will often "release" the glochids. Lastly, applying a topical antihistamine, like Cortisone, can sometimes help with the welting... As for the duration, I really can't say. I've had them last as long as a week, but I make a big effort to pull them out with duct tape the moment I discover I've been stuck. The ones that lasted a week were too deep to be pulled with the tape, and had to come out all on their own.