WALLACE W HANSEN

Native Plants of the Northwest

Native Plant Nursery & Gardens

2158 Bower Ct S.E., Salem, Oregon 97317-9216

E-Mail: Wallace W Hansen
Phone: 503-581-2638; Fax: 408-586-1306

Click here for Home Page: www.nwplants.com

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Updated March 13, 2008

NORTHWEST NATIVE ROSES

The Rose, including wild species, is the traditional flower of romance and love and beauty through the centuries and many cultures.

Sometimes we think that brighter, larger, more fragrant characteristics are better and better. Hold on! Not so!

Rosa gymnocarpa

(Little Wild Rose)

Photo by JoAnn Onstott

Wild roses grow on their own roots of course: exotic hybrids are grafted onto roots from native or semi-native rose plants.

You can propagate wild roses from cuttings, suckers or seed. Most nursery growers propagate from seed. I recommend. in cool areas, to plant seed in the fall as soon as they are cleaned. An alternative is 90 days cold moist stratification at about 34 degrees F. Sometimes you must wait two years for germination. In my nursery I grow the four main Northwest wild roses, as described below. They are not endangered in any way. You can dig some in the wild (with permission) in the winter and transplant or gather some seed. I see very little loss from diseases or insects and they will survive a water shortage – they will survive and take care of themselves, thank you, including reproduction. Find a place on your property for these fine plants and start a showy clump! Select the right species for your area. They are most tough plants that will spread – ideal for native plant gardens. 

SPECIES OF PACIFIC NORTHWEST NATIVE WILD ROSES

Famous for brilliant red hips that stay on through the winter. Grows 3 – 5 ft tall. This is usually harder to get. I notice a wonderful fragrance from the stems and leaves. At night, in passing a stand of this rose (not in flowering season) the air is heavy with a wonderful fragrance. See Rosa gymnocarpa for details.

Photo by JoAnn Onstott

Click on picture for large view

Brilliant red hips (seed pods). 3 – 5 ft, pink flowers. Hips hang on through winter. Will spread and form colonies. We have a bed of exotic roses on this property in addition to a glorious native garden. These exotic roses must be pampered, protected from heavy freezes, etc. I planted two Nootka roses several years ago in this bed. They flourished! Then my dear wife told me to get rid of the nootka roses as they were “taking over.” I chopped them out. Later in the year, like the mythical many headed dragon, fifty plants grew from the pieces of roots left in the ground! They are not like Himalayan Blackberries or English Ivy, however. There are many places on your property that should have the Nootka Rose. See Rosa nutkana for details.

Photo by JoAnn Onstott

Has several clustered pink flowers instead of solitary flowers. Has sharp, pointed leaflets – beautiful rose. See Rosa pisocarpa for details.

Photo by JoAnn Onstott

Bright red hips last throughout the winter. This wild rose occurs East of the Cascade Mountains – hotter and drier in summer, colder in winter. Rose pink flowers in early June. I have a clump about six ft tall. Those of you in Inland areas and cold climates should consider this native rose. See Rosa woodsii for details.

Photo by Jennifer Rehm

AVAILABILITY FROM WALLACE W HANSEN

Thanks!

Wally

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