Planted a Bougainvillea at the bottom of one of the clothesline posts and haven't bothered to make a proper "bed" around it yet. Didn't really expect it to survive winter, but it's still alive. One of the thorns put a pretty good slice in my leg while mowing a couple weeks ago. I love the lantanas along the fence but brushing against them while mowing is uncomfortable. The stupid buckthorn tree with 3" thorns in the front yard and I have declared a truce. I've cut off everything up to about 6 1/2 feet and it agrees to grow tall enough to make itself useful via shade. (I know, *I* didn't plant it.) The roses... sigh, worth it! The most bothersome aspect of really thorny plants to me is not wanting to put their trimmings in the compost. Long ago someone planted boxwoods all around my Mom's house and they are always waiting to pounce on & scratch anyone who gets close. Not painful but I think everyone who gets "velcro weed" hates being attacked by it! Get OFF me! Then there's the sticky plants, like petunias. How I do love them, especially when they smell good, but can't stand having the sticky sap attack my fingers when I have to touch them.

Funny how plants will fool you and thrive when you don't follow the "rules." Try to take a nice amount of soil to disturb the roots as little as possible, put in a pot - something solid rather than a soft bag which might let soil loosen. Place in a sheltered spot out of wind and sun 'til you can get them back to the new spot. Try to transplant late in the day, preferably while it is drizzling or rain is predicted. Make provision to shade/cover the plants for several days if need be. Sometimes I use a little cage with one-two layers of screening or a tall basket to cover a newly set plant. One time we moved my Mother's entire garden in May from zone 6 to 5. This included daylilies, poppies, bearded iris, lilies in bud, peonies, daffodils, tulips and many,many other perennials. There was minimal loss even with a heavy frost on May 26 that year. Progeny from some of those daylilies are in my garden today - over 40 years later. Peonies are still there.

What a delight to get to meet Ginger! I love conch fritters. I had some VERY fresh ones last year in Nassau. The best part of my trip! I haven't thought about the lizard poo in years. Thanks for reminding me of that story and giving me a laugh this morning. Glad you had a fun trip!

Roses are one of the worst. Those thorns are designed to hook, and inflict maximum pain. Some ornamental grasses that I grow have sharp edges. Miscanthus are my top offenders and I love them. I like high contrast so I like the look of spiny plants sprinkled here and there. Echinops are a little prickly but not too bad. I enjoy the form of Yucca f. and it is not the most painful species to be impaled by. Opuntia is a plant that I am willing to deal with. I just make tongs out of stiff cardboard if I am handling the pads and long tweezers if weeds or seedlings sprout amongst them. They bloom here almost like clockwork on the first of July. Carlina aucalis is quite spiny and wonderful. All of these plants work for me. Funny I have grown different species and varieties of Eryngium and never noticed an odor at all. LOL! christinmk - "Pop-in-your-eye weed" I think I know the little weed you mean Cardamine hirsuta, but google the common name, too funny. It has never got me, however if you ever let Euphorbia myrsinites go to seed it can get you from several feet away. Those seeds are large and you can hear them popping. Those were one of my more objectionable plants (at that stage only)