Thank you for your detailed comments! I will need to find another place for it or my husband will be hacking it off in rage if it even attempts to come in contact with him! It sounds like it will be similar to Alexander Mackenzie. I never imagined he would get as big as he did and planted him in front of the house along the porch which he tried to eat! Thanks again! Linda

I think your concerns are exactly why we come to the forum. We need the real story. HMF also helps me this way.

Actually it was HMF that said it was thornless or nearly thornless...and the descrepancies mainly come from different nurseries selling the plant!

I am considering plainting a row of FLC. How far apart would you suggest? I appreciate the help

favour1, where are you located? You can add this info to your name for future reference.

Yes favour1, it would help to know where you are. But I can say that you will LOVE FleClerc. One of my all time favorites. My 3 are definitely not thorny or rugose-leaved. Of course, I'm zone 6 so I can't vouch that he's hardy to zone 4, but I have never had any die back on mine. Oh and the color of the flowers is so gorgeous, and he is such a delightful and tireless bloomer - really all season long!

frances, thanks for your input! I'm patiently waiting for mine this spring. Feel free to post any pics!

Hope I can help clarify whether Felix Leclerc is thorny or not. New growth has no thorns at all, so at its extremities you can brush against the plant yet suffer no snags or cuts—unlike, say, New Dawn or Quadra, which have thorns everywhere. However, Felix will grow thorns at its base on the old, fat, mature canes near the ground, but these are quite inaccessible so are rarely a problem unless you crawl under the plant to touch the base.

As you know, botanically roses don’t have thorns but prickles instead, which are surface features that, on this cultivar, grow only from the oldest, most mature wood on the plant. Felix Leclerc is, for all practical purposes, a mostly thornless plant.

Oh! I love roses that will behave this way in our cold zones. Cynthia, your photo is just beautiful. Love to hear of out of control roses that mingle with their neighbors. Not considered a positive by everyone, but certainly is by me because it's relatively rare in cold zones. I love the lush look. I didn't know anything about Felix L until this thread.

I got my Felix(s)....I ordered five from High Country and they are so tiny.....One of them could not survive all the rain we've had in Chicagoland.....It drowned at the bottom of the bed on a low slope. The others are still hanging in there and showing buds....BUT the good news is I found a local nursery and bought four two year olds in bloom and a one year old....I will be planting between the HC roses making all 2 1/2 feet apart. The nurseryman said that would work since my end game is to have a fence covered in roses....Woo Hoo!.....I am so excited and smiling ear to ear....I just managed to buy all that they had and it was just what I needed.....A beautiful colored rose....The only downer is an absence of aroma.....However, I can live without that......Thank you everybody for the input and sharing here at Houzz....You're the best.

My Felix were the smallest of all those from HCR, so perhaps it's slow to develop. My others were much huskier, but all are putting on substantial growth. Did your repot yours? I always keep my raised to allow drainage after having a couple succumb to root rot. : (( That's great that you could find some locally. Also, I didn't realize they would allow such close spacing. I better read up on him on HMF before I plant him out! Thanks for the heads up and I hope to see some pics when he blooms! : )

Favour May I ask where you found Felix locally? Thanks!