PlantFiles: Floribunda Rose
Rosa 'Gene Boerner'

Gene Boerner Floribunda is almost thornless. I saw at Lowe's for $20 and was impressed at how thornless it was. At Cantigny park in Chicagoland, zone 5a, Gene Boerner is the BEST-LOOKING bush out of 1,000 bushes. It's loaded with tons of blooms, zero diseases, even when other roses look bad in humid & rainy weather. At Cantigny rose park, I don't see thorns in Gene Boerner either. It should be listed as "almost thornless", no scent, but constant blooming.

The Gene Boerner is probably the best overall shrub rose I've ever planted, at least for my climate (Austin, TX).

First, it's very disease resistant. It stays strong and healthy when nearly all my other rose bushes are getting fungus and blackspot. The only bushes the really compare are the highly-resistant Knockouts I have, but they don't look as good, since the Gene Boerner has thicker, greener, healthier-looking leaves and an equal number of blooms.

Secondly, it handles the weather well. It keeps healthy growth even in the hottest weather and blooms continually from summer to frost. Of all my roses, the Gene Boerner did the best in Texas's record-setting, scorcher summer of 2011. It also does well in the winter. Mine keeps nearly all of its bright-green leaves all winter, even when the Knockouts are getting drab and rust-colored from the cold. It also blooms well into December, sometimes in January, and things really start picking up from February onwards.

Finally, the growth is ideal for a shrub rose, especially along the fence, where mine is planted. In less than two years it has grown to about 5 feet tall and maybe four feet wide. The growth on the Gene Boerner is even and full and very round, whereas many of my other bushes produce thick shoots or grow heavier on one side or another. The growth is sturdy (i.e. doesn't droop) but not overly thick. Without very much effort at all, it has grown into a perfectly shaped hedge bush.

The only real downside is that the blooms are fairly small and scentless, and they don't last very long. Thankfully one need not wait very long for new blooms!

1969 All American Rose Selections winner

From Countrysideroses.com:
Class: Floribunda
Bloom: Medium pink
Size: 4 ft. tall
Introduced: Boerner, 1968
A lovely classic pink floribunda. High-centered roses with slight fragrance are produced in abundance repeated throughout the season. Disease resistant is good. Zones 6-9.

Growquest.com: Gene Boerner floribunda rose is a pure pink beauty is a super-vigorous bush and offers color all season.
Height/Habit Medium-tall, Upright
Bloom Size- Medium, Full
Foliage- Medium green
Petal Count 35 - 40
Fragrance- Slight
Parentage- Ginger x (Ma Perkins x Garnette Supreme)
Hybridizer Boerner - 1969
Disease Resistance- Very Good
Uses- Border, Hedge, Landscape, Mass Planting

I just adore this rose. It's planted along with about a dozen others, different kinds, and the pink really stands out.

This is a great rose, it's very floriforous. The blooms look like frosting roses. It's hardy in zone 5 with minimal winter protection.

Large blooms borne singly and in clusters on an upright bush with light green foliage. Beautiful rose but lacks fragrance.