I think you might also want to consider prickles. Look for something that didn't have a lot of them. Because if I was your mail carrier, I might not want to deal with a prickly rose.

One thing that might work well for that situation is "Schmidt's Smooth Yellow" a probable Polyantha, discovered by Jackie Schmidt, which is thornless = "smooth".

It makes a lovely bushy plant with dark green glossy foliage that has been disease-free for me in SoCal. The blooms are a beautiful strong yellow, and it's a good repeater.

We know it's pretty tough, because it was found at a deserted house in SF. Rose Petals Nursery carries it ... I don't know that anyone else does. BUT it is in the Sacramento City Cemetery's Historic Rose Garden -- and they have offered it in the past at Open Garden ... worth checking.

I wonder if "Sophie's Perpetual" would work in your climate. It's also rather smooth.

:-)

~Christopher

For me Sophy's petals were a little too delicate for a hot situation, and it even had afternoon shade. I suppose Mrs. Dudley Cross might be too large, and the mailman might have trouble finding the mailbox, but she is thornless and beautiful.

I don't know what conditions it likes, but WE sure didn't have them. Sophie grew for a while, then grew backward until she expired.

And Cl. Yellow Sweetheart will grow to 12-ft. or so, which might really overwhelm most mailboxes.

Have you considered a clematis? One that loves your climate & blooms for a long time is Mme Julia Correvon. Annie's Annuals carries it & your mailman would be so grateful. You could keep it trimmed to the dimensions of your mailbox.

If we're talking other plants, I'd look at a reblooming bearded iris. If you choose carefully, you can also find one with a nice fragrance.

Years ago, I got a bunch of fragrant reblooming bearded iris from Nola's Iris Garden. Quality was great, but most importantly for my quest, I was able to figure out which were both fragrant and reliably reblooming for my zone because of the way the website is organized. You can approach the search in two ways. First, you can search their fragrant iris and note which will rebloom in your zone. Or, you can search their reblooming iris and note which are described with fragrance. Even when not in bloom, a fan of iris foliage looks nice.

If you really want a rose on the mailbox, perhaps skip the thornless aspect and plant the rose behind the mailbox, so your mail carrier won't get scratched. Last year I put 'Baronne Prevost' between the back of their mailbox and the front porch railing. There, thorns won't get in the way unless you really tried to get at the rose. Then, if you went with an iris in front, you can have a nice complementary thing going on -- maybe a bluish or purplish iris in front, and 'Lady Hillingdon' behind.

:-)

~Christopher

Hi Jeri, I rather like that Schmidt’s smooth yellow. Do you think it will get tall enough in my climate to come up over the mailbox? I know things are different around here and that we grow “roses of unusual sizes.”

If you knew my mail carrier, maybe you would suggest a thorny rose. He drives up on my flowerbed everyday. :( But I know that he might not be a permanent fixture in the neighborhood forever.

I did plan on planting the rose behind the mailbox with the hopes that it would grow taller than the post and sort of trail over the box or kind of half engulf the box. The only reason I don’t want to use a clematis in that spot is because my soil is sandy and I need tough plants in my yard. I tried a different type of flower garden last year and very few plants survived, monarda, a few echinacea, hyssop. I am moving on to plants with hearty roots who know how to survive in really tough situations.

I do want to plant Mrs. Dudley Cross somewhere in the yard because I love her. She is probably way too large for this situation. I almost think I might have her be the anchor in a bed of her own. If I remember her correctly at the cemetery, she was very, very large.

Hi Sheila, That yellow sweetheart cl is beautiful! Would I just prune it to keep it short?

'Belinda's Dream' hasn't many thorns, and it is a heat lover. It's only half "antique" ('Jersey Beauty' x 'Tiffany'), but it's a great rose.

Mine is young, but seems flexible. I think I would wind it around, andreajoy.

You know, you are so close to the Sacramento City Cemetery, I would go there. Their plant is still somewhat immature, tho, so maybe not a good indicator. Look for a comment from Jackie Schmidt -- who posts here -- since she has a mature plant. It's sort of a big mound.

[https://www.houzz.com/discussions/climbing-minis-dsvw-vd~2130748[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/climbing-minis-dsvw-vd~2130748)

The rose by the mailbox looks amazing!

Maybe Belinda’s Dream would be best because of my sandy soil and heat? While I am choosing roses for my front yard, I feel like I have to choose earth-kind roses until I can work with the soil for many more years, Is this flawed thinking?

I have read those earth kind ratings don't really mean much in different locations than the original trials. Jeri is right that your location has it's own best bets.

I have tried to get roses established near my mailbox but conditions must not be good in that spot. It's probably a good thing because my mailbox is next to the street and right by my driveway, so if I got a dense or tall rose going there it would block my view of the road. I have planted a couple of roses a little further back from the road and I have an old Dr. Huey a little further back. I think a short wide plant would work ok. I did grow a morning glory vine on my mailbox last year and it didn't interfere with traffic visibility. I like that Schmidt's smooth yellow.

I don't know about Sacramento, but Earthkind ratings are useless for me. They are mostly taken in Texas -- and I had to learn the hard way that TX roses are not necessarily my best bets. For one thing -- roses mildew here that don't do so there.

I cannot sufficiently emphasize that you have a treasure in your back yard. Wait until spring, and spend some time in the Sacramento City Cemetery. If a rose is good there, it will probably be good for you.

Have you considered Softee? It's a sweet pale yellow mini from Ralph Moore but grows well here in z7. I have one that seems to want to climb. It produces well; mine flowers frequently and a lot. It grows in doubtful spots and seems tough as nails for such a delicate-looking rose. Some fragrance, not a lot, but roses that have any fragrance at all will be fragrant here, at least a little. It can even take shade. Mine have NO THORNS. Mail carriers prefer it. It seems to be resistant to blackspot. I don't have mildew or rust here.

I do like Schmidt's Smooth Yellow. Wonder if it would grow here?

My dh is now actually telling me to get Schmidt's Smooth Yellow lol. He loves yellow and hates thorns!

He has a few of his own plants (okay mine that he declared are his that he admires but doesn't take care of lol) One is a yellow plumeria that smells strongly of ripe peaches, named Aztec Gold. The other is a yellow Allamanda vine. Neither have thorns though.

My oldest original Schmidt's Smooth Yellow, which is in a large pot with an open bottom, so it is undoubtedly rooted through the bottom, is about 4' tall, measured from the dirt level in the pot. It is also about 4-5 feet in diameter. This is with NO pruning whatsoever, so I am sure it can be pruned better. It is a polyantha. Mine gets some high level partial shade from tall street trees in the summer. It started on its "Spring Flush" about a month ago, and has almost as large flushes throughout the Summer and Fall. It is over 10 years old, and so far I have not found even ONE thorn (prickle) on it. I have 2 others plants of it, much younger - no thorns on them, either. Totally healthy with no spraying. We are in San Rafael, zone 9, about an hour's drive from Sacramento. We do not get quite as hot here as they do there in the Summer. The original plant I took the cutting from (we estimated it was planted in the 1930s or 40s, and house was empty for several years before it was demolished, so they rose was getting no care at all) was taller, trained on a house, so I do think you could train it how you want.

Jackie

Thanks Jackie! I wanted your input -- since you have the longest history with it.
I so love this rose!

I am just so glad that it is back in commerce. After some research, I found a lady who is the DIL of the lady who had the rose garden where it came from for 40+ years. The DIL said that she and her husband tried to transplant the old old original rose, but it died. I asked her if she would like a plant of it - I offered to root one for her and grow it for a bit, but she said no thanks - it was really her now dead husband who liked roses, and she thought she had more than enough growing in her garden already!

Jackie

But it was really nice of you to offer. Too bad she didn't have more history on the mother plant, since it's so intriguing.

I don't know about your neighborhood, but in ours, mailboxes seem to be where each dog in the vicinity goes to check their pee-mail... So you might want to choose something that can tolerate whatever that does to soil chemistry nearby.

Virginia

I wonder if this would be a good application for Winners Circle or Cancun? If you can whack them back like you can knockouts, that's what I would try.