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Roses for Kids ('Thornless' Roses)

© Mark Whitelaw

Nothing teaches a youngster the lessons of responsibility and the interconnections of "Nature's Web" faster than a garden - a plot of soil where the impatience of youth is quickly gratified commensurate to the efforts performed. Of all the choices available, roses will teach those lessons the quickest - the young person soon learns hard work and a little caring is rewarded with beauty, color and fragrance.

Growing roses for young people is no different than growing roses for yourself apart from two considerations - the size of the young gardener and the fact that most roses have prickles, commonly but mistakenly referred to as "thorns."

A good rule of thumb is to grow roses that will attain the same height as the young person tending them. Doing so allows the youngster to see eye-to-eye and smell nose-to-bloom the products of their efforts. As their skills and size mature, so can their choice of roses.

For young rosarians, it's a good idea to consider "thornless" roses. Here are some suggestions.

'Pacific Serenade' is a deep yellow miniature thornless rose. Growing to 3 ft. (90 cm), 'Pacific Serenade' is an excellent choice for growing in containers or starting the youngest rosarian with something manageable. Although the rose is new and does not yet have an ARS rating, Nor'East claims the rose is disease resistant, remains upright, fragrant, and will produce blooms in clusters for lots of color or can be disbudded for cuttable, single-stem flowers.

'Reine des Violettes' is a bit larger rose, growing to 4.5 ft. (1.4 m). This Hybrid Perpetual rose is nearly thornless, remains upright, displays gray-green foliage and deep red-violet blooms. It is rated by those ARS rosarians who grow it at 8.0 ("excellent").

'J.P. Connell' is a white, virtually thornless Shrub rose which grows to 3 ft. (90 cm) high, but spreads to about 5 ft. (1.5 m) wide. Hardy to USDA Hardiness Zone 3, this is a good choice for northern gardeners. Here is another photograph of this beauty.

'Mme. Legras de St. Germain' is an Alba rose which produces large cream-white, very double blossoms atop gray-green foliage. Another virtually thornless rose, this beauty grows to 7 ft. (2.1 m) high and almost as wide, and is rated 7.9 (a very high "good").

'Kathleen Harrop' is a light, shell-pink color "sport" of 'Zéphirine Drouhin' - both virtually thornless Bourbon roses. Both grow to 10 - 12 ft. (3 - 3.6 m) and can be used as climbing or backdrop roses. 'Zéphirine Drouhin' is rated 8.1 ("excellent") by those ARS rosarians who grow it.

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