I guess it must be some sort of pereskia. It was a bare 5' long thorny stick growing in the back of the greenhouse this spring so I cut it up and replanted the cuttings and then the foliage developed. I can't remember when I got it or what it looked like before. It was one of those plants that went unnoticed until it stabbed me. I'll wait and see if I get blooms. Thanks for the euphorbia ID.

I am nearly 100% sure that those first 3 pics are Japanese beetles. They're the source of the damage on your flower there. They're ravenous. It's covered with pollen so it's not showing its usual colors, but after picking hundreds of them off my roses last year, I'm pretty certain. Don't bother with insecticides... you have to hit them directly for them to work, and they kill off the bees and all the good bugs. Don't do traps either... it'll just attract more to your yard. Your best bet is to pick them off by hand and toss them in a bucket of soapy water (wear gloves if you're squeamish like me). I hear they're less active in morning so easier to pick off, but I didn't have much trouble with the afternoon either. I was more likely to hold the dish right under the bug and knock it off into the water, which didn't give them a chance to fly away. Their scent attracts even more of them, so it's important to do the best you can to control their numbers. They're completely awful and ruin everything. Good luck!

Thanks Sherry. I've been watching my spicebush plants and I don't see any rolled leaves yet. Yes, that's phlox. When my MIL died and one of her sons remodeled the house, he was going to get rid of everything in the yard. We ran over there with buckets and started digging. It was early spring, so we couldn't tell where anything was, and just had to guess and hope for the best. These have done very well. This white one just showed up this year. Most of them are pink. Here's a pic of a little guy that shows up to them every year.

jekeesl I don't remember where I read about aster name changes,but I found another article that's even more informative. I apologize for the inconvenience,but I don't know how to paste links to this site.If you google(DNA testing changing aster flower names) one site that should show up has a link www.guynewsum.com.That is the article. I tried writing the link and typing it in,but I couldn't reach the site that way,so this is the best way I can think of doing it.