On Fri, 11 Apr 2003 09:59:54 -0400, "Susan H. Simko"
wrote:

Pristine is on the hill in the back of my yard. She's got some wicked
talons just sporting bare canes! (I've already been blooded by her just
getting her into the ground.) I'm planning on adding Chrysler Imperial
this weekend (if I can find one locally) to be her companion. CI is
also noted for her sharp claws. Anyone have any suggestions for any
other non-climbing rose with nasty thorns, strong scent, and good
disease resistance? Actually, I may even consider a climber if I can
get it to climb spindly loblolly pines without doing too much damage to
the loblollies. (Loblollies also don't do much as a sun block for the
plants inderneath so I only plant full sun plants under them as anything
requiring shade rapidly dies.)

I'm usually not concerned with how disease resistant roses are but these
are a little out of my normal daily range and I'm worried that they may
be a little neglected. Probably not, knowing me, but still I worry
about the "babies". *grin* Then again, I only have thirteen to fuss
over right now.

Susan
s h simko at duke dot edu

Are you wanting thorns because you're trying to create a barrier? If
so, I might recommend something that *sort of* fits your criteria.
It's a rose that another poster recently mentioned - R. eglanteria,
or Sweet Briar Rose. This thing grows huge and tangled, and woe to
anthing that gets tangled up in its snaggletooth canes. It seems to be
pretty disease-resistant, it grows rapidly and profusely and its
leaves are actually fragrant when wet (smells a little like green
apple) - don't remember how fragrant those little blooms are, but you
can smell the bush pretty well from a distance, especially when wet.
The downside is that it's a once-bloomer, but the flush lasts for a
pretty long time (mine should be starting in a couple of weeks). The
blooms are very attractive little double-lobed five petal
"dogwoodesque" flowers. It grows in an arching fountain spray and will
grow to over 10 feet tall. Mine is starting its third full season and
it's about 6 1/2 ft tall by 9 ft wide (and I've done some selective
pruning on it). This would be a good "anti-burglar" plant and I
understand that it makes a pretty impressive hedge when planted as
such.

I'm guessing that this wild-looking plant is OK left to its own
devices.