This has for many years been one of the most popular roses in Norway and consequently widely planted. The main reason for which is probably that she appears to be a hybrid tea, even though she in fact is a floribunda. This makes her a bit more hardy and easier to grow in our Norwegian climate than most of the hybrid teas. The flowers are beautiful and tend to appear one by one like on a hybrid tea, thus making them suitable for cutting. Some years ago I took some "Rose Friends" of mine from the Oslo aerea to visit the village of Korshavn on the coast east of Lista. Here we came across a plant of Queen Elizabeth up a wall of an old wooden house almost reaching the top of the gable. Really a sight. The owner, an elderly lady, came out to greet us and we complemented her on the impressing rose. She complained about not having had the time to cut it back that spring, and of course we asked - why cut back? Yes why indeed. Most people here seem to have a strange notion that all roses should always be cut back in spring - period. I think the lady decided to heed our advice. And yes - a Queen Elizabeth of almost 3 meters in full flush covering about half of a wall is indeed a spectacular sight not soon to be forgotten. My neighbour also had a beautiful Queen Elizabeth once up his garage wall ,which he cut back to almost nothing every spring. I pitied the poor plant and told him he was likely to lose it if he kept on doing so. And he did - both - keep on doing so, and lose the plant.
So what about my own plant then? Well that is a totally different story, and like my neighbour`s , quite a sad one too at that - till now. She has never been one to flower much, sending up canes and twigs ending at best in two or three flowers per season. I pinched the shoots, cut back the plant and did everything I was supposed to do according to the books. To no avail. I had given up the plant entirely when I this spring bought a clematis "The Vagabond" and told my Queen Elizabeth that I would leave her be if she could serve as a good support for the clematis. And what do you know! The plant has flowered almost continuously and is still now in September showing off many beautiful flowers. This is not the only time I have experienced this. I have many times wondered: Do the plants have a way of perceiving things? Other gardeners have had the same experience. Very strange indeed. But then again, plants are living beings not things, and this really makes my heart go out to them, and I love them for it.

I got a potted version from a local rose nursery. I wouldn't call it thornless. Maybe the upper parts for flower cutting is low thorn but the main canes aren't.