Other to not have them? LOL! Every time I walk past my George Burns or my Austrian Copper, they "Reach out, Reach out & Touch Someone!" (anyone remember that jingle? Don't remember what commercial..). None of my other roses are as bad as GB.. he draws blood consistently.. and this would be THROUGH jeans! I don't want to have to wear biker's chaps just to prune him.. any suggestions?

Here's George Burn's thorns.. is this normal? I can get a winter shot tonight if this isn't too clear. In fact, I'll probably just will take a shot tonight or tomorrow morning so there's no leaves in the way. You can see the nasty nasty black spot I had.. GRR!!

Wow, my George Burns doesn't look nearly so evil. Some roses are just vicious, though. New Dawn's famous for seeming to reach out aggressively to stab passersby.

The worst thorns in my garden are on Tabris. Some people insist Tabris is the same rose as Nicole or Hannah Gordon, but I can assure you that the other two don't have these thorns, nor do they have to be grown on a trellis or arbor. Tabris is a monster -- a beautiful rose, but a monster nonetheless.

I moved a bed last fall because our dog population grew, from 1 to three - the Golden is okay, but the other two are shorter. So, I'm always looking for 'attractive' ways to make roses safer for the pups. I'd love additional ideas, if that fits this thread.

So you're looking for thornless or almost thornless roses, Sherry? This should be a good time to check for that in our gardens -- no foliage or blooms to obscure the thorns. I'll do a thorn tour today and let you know which roses have the fewest, but I can tell you right away that my yellow Banksias have no thorns at all and Zephirine Drouhin has almost no thorns. Are you looking for climbers, shrubs, or....?

OK, finally got home early enough to take pics, then download pics, resize pics, & upload pics. This is George Burns as of this evening.

Here's the whole plant. Ouch.

Oh, how awful. There's no escaping them. The canes on Tabris are far enough apart that I don't have to get scratched (I do, but I don't have to).

Sherry, it was raining today, so I did a run-through instead of a walk-through, but I noticed as I was sprinting past Playboy that it doesn't seem to have any thorns whatsoever. At any rate, mine doesn't.

Tanks, Zu!! Actually, it won't do any good to look because I'm in for a bathroom/studio upgrade, and with my back yard bed being moved, I'm not going to dare order more roses until fall. I have Zephirine Drouhin & will dig her up 2moro, if we aren't snowed in, and move her over here - I killed one of the few roses I've lost, yellow, that was on my fence & was so pretty, no thorns. I have one incredibly MEAN, orange rose, that has the nastiest thorns I've ever seen, I'm terrified the dogs will run into her, but she's one of those roses that doesn't start her thorns low, thanks goodness...

I like the biker's leathers idea actually. I have a number of roses too thorny to handle, so I'd be interested in suggestions too. It's pretty bad when I get both sleeves stuck at the same time. Something has to rip to get free!

The problem is my fault. I originally chose roses that I thought could defend themselves from the livestock since I plant along the fence lines. No problem: the cows like to eat the blooms best anyway.

I had a microfiber raincoat a few years ago that was the perfect thing to wear when I was pruning. The thorns never could penetrate that stuff.

I really don't like when roses draw blood; but, curiously, it doesn't bother me that much, either. The pain is fleeting and the wound is all but undetectable once it's been washed. In my experience, its slightly less odious than eating badly cooked spinach.

Well, the whole issue is moot because GB was one of the few that didn't come back for me. I don't know if I'll replace him. He's got a beautiful rose, but I'm not sure if the thorns are enough for me to want to deal with him again.

I'm sorry to hear of your loss. It will be hard to find a rose that is quite so interesting as GB; but it should be easy to find one at least as beautiful - and perhaps less prickly.

Oh, I put Blue Bayou in it's place. I'm aiming more for smelly roses rather than just purdy roses.. and the thorns really weren't worth it for the mild scent that GB had! That's why I'm hoping that my Scentsational does OK... it has leaves on it, so I'm just hoping & crossing fingers, toes, eyeballs, & legs.

The great quest for the nose rose! It is a noble one, for sure. And it's so easy to get sidetracked. For me it's likely to be until I select my roses as they grow and bloom in pots in the local nursery.

I just planted Rose Parade. Came from VG and a perfect bud was on the plant when It arrived. As it began to open I noticed that it filled my office with scent. Then, later in the day yesterday I got a whiff of it on the floor above. It surprised me, because I wasn't expecting that rose to be so fragrant. Who knows, maybe it will never be again.. I was also surprised to detect a little scent in Marie Pavie, too.

I really must get George Burns. I do love thorns. Oh, and I think that was an AT&T jingle--could be wrong, that's just what popped into my mind when I first read it.

Perhaps you could pound in some green bamboo stakes (3 or 4) in close to the plant (about 2' off center maybe) and run some jute around and through the canes. Not so much that you would notice, but enough to keep the canes from swinging so freely. I'm not sure how tall or wide GB gets. The stakes don't need to go higher that the rose. I have seen this done. It doesn't look as bad as I am making it sound.

Emory, it's not the fact that he'd reach out & grab me, it's that, when I'm trying to weed around the base, or deadhead, or whatever, I'd come back bloody. And I have pretty thick skin and don't get cut easily. But GB was a blood-thirsty rose.. the worst one I had. No one else came close to George Burns. He'd even cut my legs through jeans. And, since his best coloring is in milder temperatures (less than 90 for summer), I never got the best coloration.

I'll miss him, but I'll love that Blue Bayou more I bet.

Well, I know you've recommended GB to me in the past, so I thought I would post what I knew about containing thorny or floping roses. I know the once a year trim out of my old Stanwell Perpetual hedge almost required a Kevlar suit! It is interesting to note that GB's coloring is best in cool temps as most of my temps are not cool at all (barring this past spring--which has been highly unusual). And, crazy me, I've just bought a Stanwell band to grow out and peg so that I may have many more tiny Stanwells to start a new hedge! I just can't resist having another.

I think Dortmund was the most prickly rose I've grown. It grew quickly, but a whiff of Roundup ten feet away put it under. Never actually got to the point where I had to train the fat canes.