Hubby works in landscaping. By the time he gets home, he's done with plants attacking him, so thornless is the only type of rose I grow. I have a ZD, purchased earlier and the season and not blooming yet. I also ordered a Paul Neyron, and a Firefighter, last week.

I'm wondering what thornless varieties have you grown and are happy with?

thanks!

Firefighter is thornless? I will have to get it!

I've been pricked by many "almost thornless" roses. Cl. Cecile Brunner comes to mind....and Dr. Huey.

All my other "thornless" are new to me and I haven't grown them long enough to make a judgment call on them.

In your soil and water, 'Reine des Violettes' would be a very good rose, indeed. A nice arching shrub or low climber. She produces a good spring bloom Once mature, she will have some Fall bloom, but may not do a lot during summer heat.

I have ZD, Shropshire Lad, Generous Gardener, Queen of Sweden. I have a small garden so I don't want to brush against them either.
I'm ordering Brother Cadfael, fragrant, thornless, and a Climber.

Are the ones you listed, So Cal, beside ZD, "almost thornless?"

I think they either thornless or almost thornless. It's hard to tell because Regan Nursery lists them as thornless/nearly thornless.
So I went outside to check, I also have James Galway, supposedly thornless or almost thornless because I chose them that way.
But only Generous Gardener and ZD are thornless, the other three have thorns, maybe not as much as the super thorny one like Climbing Colette, I have one, so I know. They have thorns, Queen of Sweden pricked me once, Shropshire Lad has thorns, same with James Galway.

That is really thoughtful of you to gracefully limit your choice of roses to respect your husband.

Canadian_Rose said:That is really thoughtful of you to gracefully limit your choice of roses to respect your husband.

I also got pricked before too.

Yup...that happens.

Heritage is nearly thornless and it's a tough cookie, too.

Heritage is on my list.

I understand the quality of thorniness as a criterion for excluding a bush from one's yard. I've got quite a few that are very thorny! I really don't mind very much about that, since I try to place them away from the paths, in the centre of the beds ( my beds usually have three lines of bushes, sometimes even four); Thorny climbers at the back of the beds, where I hardly pass ever. Thus I only get pricked when I move about distracted or clumsily...then I deserve to get pricked...
I find roses so delightful that I prefer to ignore this question altogether when trying to add a newcomer to my yard.
I've read that some people find that as a great advantage to stop tresspassers! ( bypeds or tetrapods). As usual its the way one sees an issue that finally counts...
Arturo

I have had my Brother Cadfael for about 20 years. The older the plant gets the more thorny it gets. It is not thornless or nearly thornless by any means. It also does grow straight up and blooms pretty much in spring and perhaps fall but not during the heat of summer. Now, that being said, I would not be without this beautiful rose. The scent is to die for! Flowers are gorgeous! It should do very well for you as you are a whole lot cooler than where I live. However, it will get more thorns as it gets older.

Don't recall if this one is on your list. Renae is totally thornless, fragrant and disease resistant. It is a climber, however.

The only one rose I haven't got pricked by is Gene Boerner. I don't know if it changes when it gets older since this is just it's first year. I got it from Home Depot as a bag rose this spring. Productive and long lasting.

IMO, the evilest prickles are those under the leaves (which Gene Boerner doesn't have any!!!), and I get hurt by them almost every time when I deadhead this kind of roses.

reh0622 said:Firefighter is thornless? I will have to get it!

Almost but not completely. You can breed it (usually as pollen parent) with other low or no thorn and get thornless offspring. Same with Ebb Tide, not completely thornless but easy to get thornless seedlings from it.

There just isnt a lot of thornless roses to begin with.

A lot of the lavenders and purples are low thorn, but they are all fairly closely related so its not that surprising given the progenitors of the colour are often low thor

I grew a J&P 'Sun Flare' thornless floribunda when I lived down on the Gulf Coast. I planted it behind my pool and it was so healthy, disease resistant. I just watered it weekly and it sparkled behind the pool. I got more compliments on that bush. I think I only fertilized it once a year and it produced thousands of blooms 10 months out of the year in our warm coastal climate. It was thriving when I sold the house 10 years later, and about 4' tall x 3' wide. Dark, shiny leaves that just never had disease issues. Sorry I don't have a photo from that bush (didn't own a digital camera back then), but here's a link to one: https://www.jacksonandperkins....

I just ordered SunFlare yesterday from J&P. Glad to know it's thornless, I think it's also fragrant. Now I can remove the cactus area and plant SubFlare instead.

Here's a bloom off the one I bought at this house last year. The blooms look right, but the one J&P shipped me this time has a few thorns on it and it's blooming in smaller clusters. I'm hoping it's just because it's young or a difference in soils. It hasn't taken off in its first year with new branching and foliage production like the one I had down on the coast, but the blooms it is producing are lovely and have a nice, mild scent.

I was visiting a local nursery today and was noticing that Twilight Zone, Pinkerbelle, Falstaff, and Graham Thomas, are what I would call "nearly thornless." Falstaff was in a 5 gal. pot and looked healthy. The price is $59. Does that sound reasonable for a larger pot DA or expensive? I believe Twilight Zone was $39 in a 3 gal. pot.