I planted this one February 2009, so it's still rather young, but it is putting out lots of buds and looks very healthy.

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ignore the cinder block. that's to keep the wiener dogs from trying to dig out. they don't. I'm just a paranoid parent.

I just had to look this up after your comments and it looks and sounds like an absolute winner. I especially love the rose when it's fully open and the stamens are showing. That such a pretty rose is thornless really makes it something of a treasure. I don't want to hear about more wonderful roses; my garden is full!

Ingrid

I have also heard great things about T.A. We have this ugly part of our yard with the water utilities for our block of the neighborhood sticking out of the ground. I wanted a thornless rose to plant around it, thornless so workers could get to the block's utilities without ripping holes in their shirts :) So, I purchased thomas affleck and mrs. dudley cross. TA has doubled in size in the past 4 weeks and has half a dozen buds already. I planted it this time last month and it has been disease free, vigorous, and has little to no thorns. There are probably more gardeners out there who have more experience than I do, but so far, it is everything I wanted. Good luck Molly,

Natalie

I agree that the knockouts are probably a little over used, but I certainly understand why many people choose them....they are just not my cup of tea.
I can see from your photo, Wilo, that this is one healthy rose, which is reassuring.
The only other question that comes to mind is whether it is a self-cleaning rose or one of those roses that hold on to their decaying petals.
Molly

I've had Thomas Affleck for several years and it is truly a wonderful rose. I just went out and looked at it and the medium size bush (it doesn't seem to care about getting large) has 19 buds or big blooms and there is !NOT ONE! leaf marred from black spot or anything else. Wish I could say that about some of the other roses. I never spray and we've had rain and humid weather the last few weeks.

Here is a photo from a few years ago when I had it in a pot ...
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Photo taken a few days ago ...
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And the black beetles ignore it! :-)

Molly, it is definitely self cleaning! I appreciate that quality in a rose also.

TA has been in my garden for 2 years now and handles the cold winters here beautifully. I don't winter protect at all; only oak mulch around the base. This year it was the first to leaf out with only minimal pruning needed....and it got down to -5F for a few days in December.

The shrub blooms pretty much all summer and has a nice shape. It's definitely one my favorites :)

'Thomas Affleck' is an awesome rose. You were very smart to pick this one up. Even though I live all the way up in zone 4/New Hampshire, this Texas Pioneer Rose thrives. Mine is about 5 years old now and stays around 5 feet tall, which by zone 4 standards is a good-sized rose....but he is very elegantly shaped and almost always
covered in beautiful blooms. The leaves are never touched by diseases and I don't spray. The color is very bright and looks wonderful against the dark green, healthy foliage. Mine even sets hips in the fall. In the 5 years I've had the pleasure of knowing 'him', TA has never had one speck of blackspot and even blooms in a semi-shaded position. I grow 3 of the Texas Pioneer roses and love them all, but Thomas is my first and favorite. (Also grow 'Coles Settlement' and 'Star of the Republic'). I am amazed that these 3 roses are among my hardiest. It seems ironic that roses that originated in Texas and bearing Texas names would survive zone 4 winters as well as the Explorer roses and better than the Bucks! All 3 of them
are hardy to the tips here. (In case any other cold-zoners are reading this.)

I bought roses for my son and DIL's house and even planted them for them. I am bound and determined that one of my offspring are going to become rose-addicts along with me!
LOL.

Celeste

The handsome 'Thomas Affleck'......
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I love my Thomas Affleck! It is everything and more, re the above comments. Mine is planted next to Gruss an Aachen and the colors complement each other well. Keep the TA for yourself, then go back and get another for your daughter - great excuse to visit ARE again! I am going Wednesday - can hardly wait!

I wonder whether anyone in the mid-Atlantic has had success with this rose in a no spray garden.

Robert

Here in piedmont NC, Thomas is awesome! I was noticing yesterday that he has grown much larger this year and is blooming much earlier. The blooms are huge and so is the shrub. He is well over five feet tall - I am 5'2" - so I know this is a fact! I pruned him this winter, too. Thomas is one of my favorite roses, because he is thornless, scented, easy to grow, and gets very little blackspot. A real winner, in every way. Denise

Debating between TA & G. Nabonnand. How big does the TA get? Thanks!