Thornless Climbing Rebloomer for Large Container in partial shade

12 years ago

This is not a joke, though I'm sure a few of you may be laughing silently at my insistence on thornless roses. (What can I say, I hate the prickles.)

So... I have a fairly large container (24" around by maybe 30" deep), glazed ceramic... on my entry porch that comes off my concrete driveway that currently has a large Camelia in it. It's doing OK, but the summers are hard because it gets a bit too much afternoon sun (and reflected heat from the concrete) to be really happy there. I've been thinking of finding something new to grow here, but since it's my entry porch I want something with a "wow" effect if possible, if not for all the year then at least for a long blooming season.

A few years ago I tried a bougainvillea there, but where I'm at in Contra Costa County, our winters get too much frost for bougies and it died there.

I had a random moment of, "hmmm... wonder if a rose would work here?" And it's OK if the answer is, "not a chance." I'm so new to roses that I really just don't know if this combination exists... and if it doesn't, the camelia is OK where it is.

Anyway, does such a rose exist?

1) Rebloomer

2) Climber. I'd love to get it up the side of my porch

3) Thornless (or thornless-ish)

4) Would tolerate living in a container for-e-v-e-r.

5) Would tolerate some shade (but it would get more sun if it can climb above 5 feet tall

I prefer the brighter cerise/magenta colors (hence the bougie.)

Maybe there's a good mini that might fit this bill? I may repost over there, too.

Thanks!

-kmama

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Comments (4)

User
12 years ago
Here are the thornless/or almost, reblooming climbers among Antique Rose Emporium's stock:

Ghislaine de Feligonde (yellow)
Lady Banks White
Lady Banks yellow
Madame Alfred Carriere (white)
Peggy Martin
Reve d'Or (yellow)
Zepherine Drouhin (pink)

From Rogue Valley:
American Beauty (deep pink)
Amadis (mauve blend)
Clytemnestra (apricot blend)
Cornelia (pink blend)
Crepuscule (apricot blend)
Henri Barruet (pink blend)
Climbing Iceberg (white)
Martha (pink blend)
Morletii (mauve blend)
Renae (lt. pink)
Souvenir du Dr. Jamain (dark red)
Tausendschon (pink blend)
Climbing Yellow Sweetheart (lt. yellow)

As far as I can tell, Vintage doesn't list roses by thorniness.

You could do a search at HelpMeFind. A search on "thornless and climbing" returns 298 pages of results, but that includes once bloomers and multiple records for the same rose.

I like thornless roses, too, but it does narrow your choices.
roseseek
12 years ago
These are my experiences with the following roses north of Los Angeles:

Lady Banks White - too large, no repeat
Lady Banks yellow - too large, no repeat
Madame Alfred Carriere - NOT EVEN CLOSE TO THORNLESS and large
Reve d'Or - large and sharp prickles
Zepherine Drouhin - large and don't know about shade tolerance. Not healthy in Los Angeles areas

From Rogue Valley:
American Beauty - no where near thornless, bush not terribly healthy, climber healthier but thorny and large, little to no repeat.
Amadis - no repeat
Clytemnestra - nice but not thornless
Cornelia - sharp prickles
Crepuscule - don't know about light sufficiency
Climbing Iceberg - LARGE, SHARP prickles, bush form can be nearly thornless
Martha - same as Zepherine
Morletii - no repeat
Renae - EXCELLENT
Souvenir du Dr. Jamain - health issues
Tausendschon - nearly thornless, mildew issues
Climbing Yellow Sweetheart - thornless, but not well branched, long, heavy canes with enormous terminal clusters.

Renae is shade tolerant, fragrant, excellent rebloom and THORNLESS.

Opal Brunner is very similar to the above, only varies in color of flower and foliage.

If there is enough light, you can also use Purezza, a repeat flowering hybrid of Banksiae. It does have some prickles on the leaf midribs, but no flesh ripping cane ones. It requires heat to rebloom. At the coast, traditional Banksiae will continue flowering as long as it's still spring like weather. Purezza flowers when it gets HOT. I don't know if your light levels are high enough for it. Renae and Opal Brunner are more shade tolerant.

If the direct sun on the ceramic pot is strong and intense, you might consider wrapping the exposed sides inside the pot with bubble wrap to insulate it against heat absorption and radiation. It can be enough to cook the roots of a rose. Without seeing what it is, it is difficult to determine so I mention it to possibly improve your chances. Kim
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meredith_e Z7b, Piedmont of NC, 1000' elevation
12 years ago
My Purezza is of the flesh-ripping variety. I don't think there are many thorns on mine, but they are the kind that garb easily and hurt. I've kept her pruned back every year so far to limit her growth, so maybe she outgrows the thorniness if you don't do that.

I suggest Weeping China Doll! Mine's as thornless as Zeffy, and she definitely reblooms. She's cerise-pink, too! I don't know how tall she really gets yet. Mine's about 4 feet.
User
12 years ago
Looks like Renae one! I've been surprised more than once to receive a thorny little sucker that had been described as thornless.

I wonder if culture has something to do with it. I swear there are times when I've had something that was relatively thornless here, but when given away to friends, thorns suddenly appear.