Choose Your Country
"Are there really roses without thorns?"
It's a question that often comes up, usually from gardeners who've pricked one too many fingers or are planning a planting space near paths, play areas, or patios. The short answer: yes—but with a few caveats and some fascinating backstory.
Most roses marketed as "thornless" actually fall into the category of nearly thornless or very few thorns. These are roses that may have smooth stems in some areas or have sparse prickles, especially higher up on the canes. They're ideal for places where frequent contact is likely—along walkways, near benches, or in family-friendly gardens where kids or pets might brush by.
True thornless rose bushes are rare, but they do exist. One is Zephirine Drouhin, a classic Bourbon rose, grows as a vigorous climbing rose and is genuinely free of prickles from base to bloom. This makes it a favorite for covering arbors and fences without worry.
It all comes down to genetics and selective breeding.
Thorns—technically prickles in roses—are part of the plant's natural defense system. Over time, however, breeders have selected varieties that naturally display fewer or no prickles, favoring ease of handling and attractive appearance. Some hybrids were discovered by chance, others were intentionally bred for smoother stems. The trait is recessive, which means it can be a challenge to maintain in breeding programs, but the results are worth it.
Interestingly, the higher up you go on many rose canes, the fewer thorns you'll find. This is especially noticeable in established bushes and mature thornless climbing roses, which often have smoother new growth.
Here's a list of well-loved roses without thorns—or almost without them—that are available in shrub, climbing, and hybrid tea forms:
If you've noticed that many of the most popular thornless or nearly thornless roses are climbing roses, you're not alone—and there's a good reason for that. Climbing roses, particularly older varieties like Noisettes and Bourbons, often exhibit smoother canes as a natural trait. This isn't a coincidence but rather a result of their genetic lineage and growth habits.
Historically, many climbing roses evolved from or were bred using species that naturally produce fewer prickles—like Rosa moschata, Rosa multiflora, and Rosa noisettiana. These ancestors contributed to the climbing habit and also to smoother stems and greater disease resistance.
There's also a practical reason: because climbing roses are meant to be trained along walls, fences, and arbors—places where hands-on care is required—having fewer thorns makes them much easier to manage. Breeders and gardeners favor cultivars that offer a more comfortable training experience without compromising bloom quality.
Shrub and hybrid tea roses, by contrast, were more often bred with a focus on bloom size, form, and reblooming power—thorn count wasn't always a priority. Fortunately, modern breeding has started to combine low-thorn traits with floribundas, hybrid teas, and even Rugosas, expanding your thornless options.
If you've ever hesitated to deadhead a rose because of thorns or avoided pruning back a climber for fear of getting scratched, a thornless rose bush changes the game.
These roses:
For some gardeners, the reduced need for gloves and long sleeves is a welcome advantage.
One of the biggest surprises? Many thornless varieties are just as fragrant, hardy, and floriferous as their pricklier cousins. There's no need to give up performance for comfort. From impressive climbing roses that grace fences with wave after wave of blooms to compact shrub rose types perfect for border edges, roses without thorns offer the full rose experience, minus the scratches.
Roses may be famous for their thorns, but there's a softer side worth discovering too. Thornless roses offer gardeners fragrance, and ease in one beautiful, graceful package.
So go ahead—grow and enjoy the beauty and fragrance of roses—no gloves required.
