Thornless Rose Varieties - Part 4
By Paul Smith, pemdasgarden.com
We're back with more smooth operators.
This is Part 4 of our thornless rose series — because four parts in, we're still finding gorgeous roses that forgot to grow thorns. If you missed the earlier installments, start with our nearly thornless roses — then come back for this quartet: Lotus Star, Pope John Paul II, Juicy Terrazza, and For Your Home.
A lotus, a saint, a juicy dwarf, and a homebody. Four roses, four stories, zero thorns. Let's meet them.
The Part 4 Quartet 🌿
Lotus Star
Lotus pink clusters · 10–15 day blooms · The meditative
From Japan, Lotus Star is the contemplative one — a compact 60–100 cm plant carrying clusters of lotus-pink 2–3 cm blooms, each lasting an extraordinary 10–15 days. Ten to fifteen days! For flowers this small, that's almost unheard-of staying power.
The plant reblooms every 3–4 weeks with very good disease resistance, and the lotus-pink coloring — that sacred, serene pink — gives the whole plant a meditative quality. It's the rose for quiet corners, meditation gardens, and anyone who wants their garden to feel like a deep breath.
This is for you if… you want a compact, serene, endlessly blooming pink — with almost absurd flower longevity.
Pope John Paul II
Creamy white · Sweet fruit · The saint
Bred by Keith Zary in the USA (2006) and named for the late pontiff, Pope John Paul II is pure grace: large creamy white 10–12 cm blooms with a sweet fruity fragrance, each lasting 6–8 days, on a stately 120–150 cm plant.
White roses are the hardest to keep clean-looking — every blemish shows — but this one's smooth, healthy foliage and strong constitution keep the blooms pristine. It's a memorial rose, a wedding rose, a peace-garden rose. Some roses you plant for color; this one you plant for meaning.
This is for you if… you want a pure white rose with soul — and blooms big enough to stop a conversation.
Juicy Terrazza
Salmon-orange · 7–15 day blooms · The juicy dwarf
From De Ruiter in the Netherlands, Juicy Terrazza is the patio-party dwarf — compact and bushy, with salmon-orange 4–6 cm blooms that fade to a soft pink-orange, each lasting 7–15 days. Rebloom comes fast, every 2–3 weeks.
The name says it all: juicy. These blooms look good enough to bite — saturated, glowing, almost neon in morning light. As a dwarf, it's made for pots, terraces (hence "Terrazza"), and the front of borders. And with that 2–3 week rebloom cycle, it's one of the most floriferous dwarfs you'll find.
This is for you if… you want maximum juicy color in minimum space — and blooms that just won't quit.
For Your Home
Pink-purple · Ripe fruit and green · The homebody
From Japan, For Your Home wears its heart in its name — a tall, trainable rose bred to live with you, by the door, on the patio, along the house wall. The pink to pink-purple 7–10 cm blooms carry an unusual fragrance: ripe fruit with green notes — like an orchard after rain.
Train it up a pillar by the entrance, let it arch over a doorway, or grow it as a tall shrub where you'll brush past daily. The smooth stems mean every encounter is pleasant — which is exactly the point of a rose named "for your home."
This is for you if… you want a rose that lives where you live — by the door, on the patio, in your daily path.
Thornless Care: The Gentle Routine 🌱
Same rose fundamentals — 6+ hours of sun, good air, water at the base, regular feeding — with the thornless bonus: maintenance you'll actually enjoy.
Match the habit to the spot: Lotus Star and Juicy Terrazza for pots and small spaces; Pope John Paul II for borders and cutting gardens; For Your Home for pillars, doorways, and anywhere tall and trainable shines.
Deadhead without fear. Reach in bare-handed. Snip spent blooms. Watch the next flush arrive — 2–4 weeks for this quartet, faster than most.
Our complete rose care guide has the full details.
Bloom timing shifts with your USDA zone — in warm climates expect nearly year-round flushes; where winters are cold, mulch crowns (or shelter pots) for winter.
Growing Thornless Roses From Seed 🌹
Grower-to-grower honesty: these named varieties are propagated from cuttings — that's how their smooth stems stay exact. Seeds give you something different.
Every seedling is a brand-new rose, and it's genetically unique — no particular level of thornlessness is promised. Stratify 8–12 weeks in the fridge, sow in well-draining mix, and raise your own gentle giant.
Start with our rose seeds collection.
Thornless Roses FAQ ❓
Which blooms longest?
Lotus Star (10–15 days) and Juicy Terrazza (7–15 days) are the longevity champions — remarkable staying power, especially for their size.
Which is best for pots?
Juicy Terrazza (dwarf, made for terraces) and Lotus Star (compact 60–100 cm). Both thrive in containers with consistent water.
Which has the strongest fragrance?
Pope John Paul II's sweet fruit is the most classic; For Your Home's ripe-fruit-and-green is the most unusual. Lotus Star and Juicy Terrazza are grown more for bloom power than perfume.
How is this different from Part 3?
Each part covers four new varieties — this series is a growing library. See nearly thornless roses for the previous quartet.
Wrapping Things Up!
A lotus. A saint. A juicy dwarf. A homebody.
Part 4 proves the thornless world keeps getting richer — serene pinks, pure whites, juicy oranges, orchard-fresh purples, all on stems you can handle with bare hands. The smooth-stemmed revolution continues, and your gloves are officially retired.
And as always, if you ever need help choosing, planting, or growing… we're here! 🌿
More smooth roses: our nearly thornless roses, the rose care guide, the rose seeds collection, and all Growing Guides.
Timing matters in the garden. Our gardening tools hub has a seed-starting date calculator and a frost date finder to help you plan sowing around your local climate.