I don't usually associate thorniness with Rose Rosette Disease unless there are a couple other related "symptoms"--such as really bizarre and ugly excessive growth and a definite reluctance to form "normal" blooms. I've noticed that new healthy canes that sometimes pop up are thornier than the older (and sometimes smaller) canes. Doesn't seem to hurt anything. Perhaps your mom's roses got better treatment--more water and food, for instance--and started pumping out some new "super" canes. If they progress to normal blooms, I wouldn't worry about it. Kate

Annie, I'd like to hear about that Montreal garden too. Ann, it sounds like you are right about it being R. bruonii. It was definitely huge, and no blooms at all that day. Thanks for the info! Malmaison, I was surprised at how much I liked MAM, they had several specimens and they all looked great to me. One of the happiest looking plants in the garden, and a very shapely bush habit. Bon Silene was as big as an ornamental tree. It was a huge plant, perhaps the biggest tea rose I've ever seen. Nur Mahal was grown as a free-standing shrub. The plant was wider than tall, with an open habit and arching canes. I thought of a fountain when I looked at it. It is not a huge plant, and will fit nicely in my garden. Just guessing, I'd say maybe 4 ft tall and perhaps 5 ft wide. I was like a deer caught in the headlights will all these old roses around me, I'm afraid I didn't sample the fragrance on this one. A guy walking around alone in a giant rose garden in Texas could get beat up for looking like he's TOO interested, so I didn't go out of my way to stick my nose into too many blooms :-) In the book, 'The Organic Rose Garden', Liz Druitt raves about this rose's scent. MadGallica, thank you for the info on brunonii ... I am sure you are right. A person could have crawled up under it and been hidden from view it was so mushroom-like and massive. In the step garden area, I think the designer was going for a "knock-your-socks-off" view as you enter the garden from above. That would explain why they had so much of one variety in that area. It is definitely impressive from that vantage point. Valerie, I felt really fortunate to have seen that many old roses in one day at one garden. It says volumes for the city of Fort Worth to offer something like this free to their citizens. Randy

Well I bought the most common form of Thorn Stripper and tried it today on a very thorny rose. Shall I say that I am less then pleased? Yes, I shall. Perhaps my expectations were too high. However, I followed the instructions as best I could and this is what I found out. Only the bottom 3 1/2 inches of stem can be de-thorned fairly easily, not the whole stem at once as I had thought. And the stem wasn't de-thorned as much as shredded taking thorns and pieces of green along with it. On a really thorny rose it's not just a swift pull downward, more like a hard tug and then another hard tug etc. The link below is not the company I bought mine from, but it is the same stripper. So if anyone else has used this form of stripper and can show me what I'm doing wrong I would certainly appreciate it. Here is a link that might be useful: thorn stripper

For anyone interested in getting Thai Hybrid Crown of Thorns (Euphorbia Milii) or Desert Rose (Adenium), there is a co-op getting started. Please see the link below for more information. Carol Here is a link that might be useful: Co-op for Crown of Thorns, Desert Rose, Thailand plants