The Wild Garden: Hansen's Northwest Native Plant Database

Wild Roses

Kingdom Plantae – Plants

Subkingdom Tracheobionta – Vascular plants

Superdivision Spermatophyta – Seed plants

Division Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants

Class Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons

Subclass Rosidae Order Rosales

Family Rosaceae – Rose family

Genus Rosa L. – rose

Rosa gymnocarpa (Bald-Hip Rose, Little Wild Rose)

Rosa nutkana (Nootka Rose)

Rosa pisocarpa (Clustered Rose, Peafruit Rose)

Rosa woodsii (Wood's Rose)

From Homepage February 5, 2005

Claude Monet, one of the foremost impressionist painters, found great delight in simple roses. He was particularly fond of the native roses - the pure color (pink) - the beauty in the pure simplicity (single petal flowers - several petals of course but not doubled in multiple layers).

Carefree native roses: a Monet Rose garden would be a lovely addition to your landscape.

This summer when the your native roses are blooming, you can stand amidst them and close your eyes. Breathe in their delicious perfume. Imagine you are at Giverny. You might even find the urge to try your hand at capturing their essence on canvas to remember that summer day in your rose garden.

Plant wild roses in combination with the Western Snowberry (Symphoricarpos occidentalis) for a beautiful winter presentation. The red rose hips and the white Snowberries will delight you and your wildlife visitors all winter.

Create an island or corner garden with Serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia) surrounded by NW Native roses. The white Serviceberry blooms are followed by delicious berries. They're so good they're even grown as a commercial crop in Canada! Prefer yellow blooms? The Black Twinberry (Lonicera involucrata) is a repeat bloomer that often presents the lovely yellow flowers with the glossy black berries at the same time, sometimes on the same branch!

From Homepage May 22, 2004

Nothing beats a wild rose for simple, sweet blooms. As I drive down country roads, the fence rows have become bowers of pink roses. The fragrance is pure and delightful. I know later in the year the blooms will fade, each one leaving behind a red berry-like rosehip. A pleasure to see and delicious to eat. The birds agree!

Though the birds don't bother to wash their food before eating, human beings must be more cautious--always clean foods carefully. It's best to grow your own wild roses, and refrain from using pesticides or other poisonous chemicals that are not safe for any living thing.

To a Wild Rose Found in October
By Ednah Proctor (Clarke) Hayes 1677.


THOU foolish blossom, all untimely blown!
  Poor jest of summer, come when woods are chill!
Thy sister buds, in June’s warm redness grown,
  That lit with laughter all the upland hill,

Have traceless passed; save on each thornëd stem      
  Red drops tell how their hearts, in dying, bled.
Theirs was the noon’s rich languor, and for them
  The maiden moon her haloed beauty spread;

For them the bobolink his music spilled
  In bubbling streams; and well the wild bee knew       
Their honeyed hearts. Now bird and bee are stilled;
  Now southward swallows hurry down the blue,

Fleeing the murderous Frost that even now
  Hath smote the marshes with his bitter breath,
Quenching the flames that danced on vine and bough,—       
  Think’st thou thy beauty will make truce with Death,

Or hold in summer’s leash his loosened wrath?
  See! o’er the shrunk grass trail the blackened vines;
And, hark! the wind, tracking the snow’s fell path,
  Snarls like a fretted hound among the pines.

The pallid sunshine fails,—a sudden gloom
  Sweeps up the vale, a-thrill with boding fear.
What place for thee? Too late thy pride and bloom!
  Born out of time,—poor fool,—what dost thou here?

What do I here when speeds the threatening blight?
  June stirred my heart, and so June is for me.
Who feels life’s impulse bourgeon into light
  Recks not of seasons, knows not bird nor bee.

I can but bloom,—did the June roses more?
  I can but droop,—did they not also die?
The Moment is: the After or Before
  Hides all from sight,—canst thou tell more than I?

What matter if to-night come swirling snow
  And Death? The Power that makes, that mars, is One.
I know nor care not: when that Power bids blow,

  I ope my curlëd petals to the sun.

Rosa gymnocarpa (Bald-Hip Rose, Little Wild Rose)

This beautiful native rose is slender and delicate. It grows rapidly to 3-5' and is adorned with tiny 1" pink flowers with single petals in attractive clusters.

The foliage is fine, even lacy and the branches are bristled rather than thorned.

The naked hips are a brilliant red and remain on stems throughout winter.

This rose is native to the Pacific Coast in shady, moist locations. It will not, however, tolerate waterlogged soils. It is hardy from USDA zones 7-9.

Rosa nutkana (Nootka Rose)

This delightful native rose has large, bright, orange hips and clusters of one to three 2" pink flowers with a sweet, almost cinnamon scent.

Nootka Rose grows very fast, reaching 3-6' and spreading by suckers to form dense thickets, where birds seek shelter and build their nests.

Found from Alaska to California and east to Utah and Colorado, Nootka Rose is hardy from USDA zones 4-9. It likes moisture, but not boggy conditions, and full sun.

It is a border plant, found where the forest meets the field, road or sea shore.

Rosa pisocarpa (Clustered Rose, Peafruit Rose)

A beautiful native rose that has several clustered instead of solitary pink flowers. It blooms from May-July and often for a second time in fall. The leaflets are sharply pointed and have hints of blue, while the branches are long and arch gracefully. They are armed with vicious thorns, providing birds and small wildlife a safe haven from predators.

A riparian species, the Clustered Rose loves moist, even waterlogged, soils and will grow well in a wet garden where other roses would fail. It is found along the Pacific Coast to the Cascade Mountains, USDA zones 7-8.

This is a superior variety for crafters and lovers of rosehip jelly as the yield of rosehips are immense! Save some for the birds, though!

Rosa woodsii (Wood's Rose)

A superb native rose, Rosa woodsii has rose-pink flowers in early June.

The bright red hips persist throughout winter, and are used as food by birds.

A fast grower, the Wood's Rose quickly reaches 4.'

It is the hardiest of the natives roses I carry, surviving in the harsh conditions from the Rocky Mountains through the Cascades, USDA zones 4-6.

It is drought tolerant, needs little sun and can survive on steep, rocky slopes with little topsoil. An excellent choice for difficult sites.

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