Roses without thorns?

[Karen May Jones]

I just finished helping my mom get her roses sort of cleaned up. Straightened up their little white fences around them, removed all the junk, leaves, and sticks that the wind blew in last week. And I must say, I've been prickled to pieces by them. I think my skin is getting thinner!! Is there a rose that does not have thorns? If so, I am going to buy me some. I don't even want to get near a rose bush/plant/stem for a long time. Ouch. Yes, I had gloves on, but I think I needed some longer gloves.

 

[claudine]

One of my miniature roses doesn't have thorns. But the rest have them and I'm always prickled too, I know how painful it is. But what can I say, roses are so beautiful, they're worth this sacrifice . Yes, I'm obsessed with roses, they're my favourite flowers

 

[Jed]

As far as I know from the one I grew Oklahoma varieties don't have much of a thorn problem.
http://www.oklahomarosesociety.org/thornlessroses.html

 

[ChanellG]

I don't like getting pricked, but there is something inherently wrong about a rose without thorns. It's one of life's lovely little metaphors for taking the bitter with the sweet. It's probably also a reminder to be be careful and handle them delicately.

 

[Jed]

I don't like getting pricked, but there is something inherently wrong about a rose without thorns. It's one of life's lovely little metaphors for taking the bitter with the sweet. It's probably also a reminder to be be careful and handle them delicately.

Yeek! You can have those prickly ironies of life.
I live in an area where there's no blackberries. When I'm at someones property that has them I'm forever getting pricked or caught up in them.
Not fond of prickles at all but I do enjoy the perfumes and the sweet fruit.

 

[ChanellG]

Jed, in most cases, those prickly ironies of life are unavoidable, especially if you want perfume and fruit

 

[Jed]

Jed, in most cases, those prickly ironies of life are unavoidable, especially if you want perfume and fruit

It's not long to go for blackberry season.For years we could access the best fruit from the sides of country roads.Large, sweet as, and perfumed flavoured. Then about 15 years ago a blackberry rust that the agricultural department was looking at, mysteriously got lose and started affecting the leaves of plants.
Since then the blackberries have been reduced and the fruit has gotten much smaller.

 

[ChanellG]

That's unfortunate. Any idea as to what the cause might be? Are these wild berries that are not being tended to? Maybe they need a little help such as fertilization on some other amendment?

 

[Jed]

That's unfortunate. Any idea as to what the cause might be? Are these wild berries that are not being tended to? Maybe they need a little help such as fertilization on some other amendment?

When the British first arrived in Australia they brought along many plants and animals which became wild and are now pests. That's why you can now travel any Tasmanian rural road and find blackberries growing.They spread by birds eating the fruit or on water courses by fruit and cuttings.
It's such a huge problem other varieties of rust are being used to cope with the many different blackberry plant types.
The rust that seems to have first appeared here was not so effective, the plant seems to cope with it but the fruit is now small and very seedy.

http://www.microtech.com.au/mvws/blackrust.htm

 

[ChanellG]

Sorry, I missed that bit above about the agricultural dept. tampering with a rust. That was rather smart of them... mysteriously got loose indeed! Someone was careless or just not careful enough.

 

[maddie]

"Despair not that the rose bush has thorns, rather, rejoice that the thorn bush has roses!" ~ author unknown
I have seen a variety that grows like a creeper with deep red leaves and no thorns or tender projections that do not prick. The flowers are deep pink in color and have a sweet smell.. I do not know the name of the variety.. sorry.

 

[ChanellG]

"Despair not that the rose bush has thorns, rather, rejoice that the thorn bush has roses!" ~ author unknown.

I love that quote, Maddie!

 

[Flourishes]

I love that quote, Maddie!

Me too!!

 

[Flourishes]

I don't like getting pricked, but there is something inherently wrong about a rose without thorns. It's one of life's lovely little metaphors for taking the bitter with the sweet. It's probably also a reminder to be be careful and handle them delicately.

Interesting analogy about the bitter with the sweet, I like that.

I have always thought about roses as if they are women. Roses seem to be the creme de la creme of the flowers, and yet they will slice the hell outta you, make you draw blood even. Oh yes, other flowers are pretty and sweet, to be sure, but in so many circles the rose is the symbol of class opulence, luxury. "He sent me a dozen roses!!"

It seems to me that the other flowers that are easy to get to, and easy to pick, don't get half as much respect as the rose. The rose is hard to get.

I'm always reading books about how men love b*tches, and how the good girl usually gets dissed by the man because she is too nice, but the guy will fall all over himself for the girl who treats him like crap. Not all the time, but you understand where I'm coming from.

That's why, to me, for many years, I have thought of roses as the hard-to-get girl of the flower world.

 

[thelovelyone]

As I was reading through your post I was thinking "did she have on gloves" but you answered my question. Perhaps you may need thicker gloves to protect you. Having thinned skin as well as cuts and bruises can be a pain. I agree, longer gloves would help a lot. As far as roses without the thorns, there most certainly are quite a few out there such as, banksia rose, and zanphirine rose--I hope I wrote the correct names.