that descended more than 21 feet.70 Historical Note: In 1820, Dr. Edwin James of the Long Expedition recorded “a large flowering rose . . . diffusing a most grateful fragrance.” Note: Extirpated in Ohio. Zones: 4–7; CLIMBING ROSE, CLIMBING PRAIRIE ROSE, ILLINOIS ROSE, MICHIGAN ROSE, PRAIRIE ROSE (R. setigera). Height: 6–15 feet. Ornamental Attributes: Fragrant deep pink flowers bloom for a month in May to July creating a wonderful multihued effect as they gradually fade to near white. Fall colors are a combination of bronze-purple, orange, and yellow. A thornless rose, with occasional prickles, it is perfect for a location where it can ramble or climb. Cultivation: Sun, part shade; dry to medium soil. Resists drought. A hardy rose, unlike most introduced climbing roses. Zones: 4–8.
Prairie rose (Rosa arkansana) Also see pp. 269, 339
More Native Roses:
PASTURE ROSE, CAROLINA ROSE, LOW ROSE (R. carolina). Height/Spread: 2–3 feet. Ornamental Attributes: Fragrant pink flowers, red, orange, or purple fall foliage. Zones: 4–9; PRICKLY ROSE (R. acicularis). Height/Spread: 4 feet. Ornamental Attributes: Pink, sometimes white flowers. Note: Endangered in Illinois and Iowa. Zones: Hardy to Zone 3; SMOOTH ROSE, EARLY WILD ROSE, MEADOW ROSE (R. blanda). Height/Spread: 2–5 feet. Ornamental Attributes: Pink flowers in late May to June; thornless or nearly thornless stems. Note: Threatened in Ohio. Zones: 2–6; SWAMP ROSE (R. palustris). Height/Spread: 5–8 feet. Cultivation: Moist to wet soil. Zones: 4–9; VIRGINIA ROSE (R. virginiana). Height/Spread: 3–6 feet. Ornamental Attributes: Yellow, purple, or pink flowers “open a few at a time and can scent a room if brought indoors.”71 Yellow to red fall color; reddish canes. Zones: 3–7; WOODS’ ROSE (R. woodsii var. woodsii). Height/Spread: 5 feet. Ornamental Attributes: Pink flowers, spectacular yellow, red, and orange fall color. Zones: Hardy to Zone 4. Native American Rose Note: The beautiful rose hips (fruit) produced by all native roses provided emergency food in drought and winter. Native Rose Note: Our naturally beautiful, fragrant native roses are naturally resistant to the foliar or leaf diseases that plague most horticultural roses, including Rose Rosette Disease (RRD). The virtually maintenance-free natives need neither pesticides nor fertilizers. Native Rose Fragrance Note: “Every year we rediscover them, amazed that these simple flowers contain so much scent,” wrote Wilson and Bell.72 Rose Nature Note: Roses provide pollinators with a lot of pollen, but not much nectar. Wild roses have special value to bumble bees, their most important pollinators, but green metallic and other bees, flies, and various beetles visit the flowers. Wild rose shrubs provide native bees with nesting materials and structure. An oligolectic bee, Synhalonia rosae, is a specialist pollinator of Rosa spp. At least 38 species of birds rely on rose hips for emergency winter food, including northern cardinal, eastern bluebird, wood thrush (p. 175), brown thrasher (p. 219), rose-breasted grosbeak (p. 200), cedar waxwing (p. 36), purple finch (p. 145), bobwhite quail (p. 36), and American robin. Birds easily swallow the small native rose hips. Chipmunks (p. 94), other small mammals, gray catbird (p. 79), and other birds use roses for cover and nesting sites. Native roses host 139 species of moths and butterflies, including mourning cloak butterflies.
Bumblebee (Bombus spp.)
Eastern bluebird (Sialia sialis)
Northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)
Mourning cloak butterfly (Nymphalis antiopa)
American robin (Turdus migratorius)
More Rose Family Native Alternatives:
PURPLEFLOWERING RASPBERRY. Genus: Rubus (R. odoratus var. odoratus). Height: 3–6 feet. Spread: 6–12 feet. Ornamental Attributes: Ornamental raspberry; eye-catching, showy, long-blooming, fragrant, rose-purple, rose-like flowers in June to August; large maple-shaped leaves; thornless, arching stems; creates striking colonies; mid- to late summer fuzzy red raspberries; pale yellow fall color; exfoliating bark. Cultivation: Sun/light shade, well-drained soil. Low maintenance. Tolerates black walnut tree toxicity. Note: Threatened or endangered in parts of the Midwest. Zones: 3–8; THIMBLEBERRY (R. parviflorus var. parviflorus). Height: 1.5–5 feet. Ornamental Attributes: A flowering raspberry with clusters of large white (sometimes pink-tinged) flowers in May to June; red raspberries. Zones: 3–9.
Rubus Nature Note: See Summer Shrubs for BRAMBLE, p. 139.
Purpleflowering raspberry (Rubus odoratus var. odoratus)
Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius)
Nonnative:
SCOTCH BROOM, EUROPEAN BROOM, ENGLISH BROOM. Family: Pea (Fabaceae). Genus: Cytisus (C. scoparius). Origin: Europe, North Africa. Height: 3–12 feet. Ornamental Attributes: Yellow flowers March to June. Cultivation: Sun. Spreads by prodigious production of long-lived seeds. Environmental Threat: Invasive in parts of the Midwest and Canada. Designated a noxious weed by some states. Zones: 6–10.
Native Alternatives:
CHOKEBERRY SPP., p. 13; FOTHERGILLA SPP., p. 27; GOLDEN CURRANT, p. 35; NATIVE HONEYSUCKLE ALTERNATIVES, p. 38; NINEBARK, p. 44; SPICEBUSH (FORSYTHIA OF THE
