If you love roses but don’t love the fuss, this hardy native beauty is perfect, as it's adapted to our soils and weather, and is equally at home climbing a trellis, weaving through a fence, or forming a free-spirited hedge. With support, its arching stems can reach up to 15 feet; without it, they ramble gracefully and root where they touch the ground, creating a living, bird-friendly barrier that can help control erosion on slopes and other challenging spots.
 
From late spring into summer, clusters of fragrant pink blooms open in succession, each softening from bubblegum to pale blush, so the plant is never the same color two days in a row. In autumn, the foliage steals the show with warm shades of bronze, yellow, purple, and red.
 
The genus name comes from the Latin word for rose. The specific epithet means "bearing bristles." The prickles help the stems attach to structures. 
 
Climbing prairie rose thrives in average, medium to moist, well-drained soils and blooms best in full sun.  A layer of mulch keeps the root zone cool in summer, and good air circulation will minimize fungal problems. Occasional pruning in late winter or early spring will encourage fresh growth and abundant flowers.
 
While all roses can occasionally experience issues like black spot or insect visitors, this native species typically shrugs them off, especially when planted where it gets sun and breezes. In humid summers, a light preventative fungicide can be used if desired.
 
In nature, you’ll find climbing prairie rose along sunny stream banks, fencerows, and prairie thickets. In your landscape, it can add charm to a cottage-style garden, soften a fence line, feed pollinators, and provide cover and nesting spots for songbirds. Plant it once and enjoy its beauty, resilience, and wildlife benefits for years to come.
 
Plant Characteristics:
Grows 6-12' tall and 8-15' long.
 
Performs best in full sun, but tolerates part shade.
 
Prefers average to moist, well-drained soils, including clay, sandy, and loamy. Intolerant of standing water. May be tolerant of drought once established.
 
Cup-shaped flowers are 2-3" across with many golden stamens and a mild rose fragrance. They grow in clusters at the end of stems but often open 1 or 2 at a time. There are usually leafy bracts below the flowers. Fruits are globular, bright red hips with oval-shaped seeds that are dispersed by birds and mammals.
 
Alternate, compound leaves are divided into 3 ovate to oblong leaflets with serrated edges. Two-winged stipules or small leaf appendages are found at the base of each compound leaf.
 
Smooth, greenish-red stems are scattered with short, thick, straight or slightly curved prickles. The stems sometimes grow in bowers extending 8' tall and 10-15' long and grow woody over time. 
 
Wildlife Value:
Native roses are a host plant for 114 species of Lepidoptera larvae, including the moths wavy-lined emerald, crocus geometer, and polyphemus. Other important visitors to the flowers are long-tongued bees, such as bumble, anthophorine, and digger. Green metallic bees; syrphid flies; and various beetles also visit the flowers. Song birds, game birds, and small mammals eat the rose hips, including greater prairie chickens, ring-necked pheasants, bobwhites, rabbits, skunks, and white-footed mice. These animals spread the seeds across considerable distances. The leaves, buds, and twigs are browsed by white-tailed deer. Rose plants provide nesting materials for native bees and cover for birds and small mammals.
 
Medicinal, Edible, and Other Uses:
Rose hips contain high levels of vitamin C, which helps to support the immune system. 
 
The tart, edible hips may be used to make teas and jams. 
 
Resources:
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=rose2
 
Missouri Botanical Garden: https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=286464
 
North Carolina Extension: https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/rosa-setigera/
 
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_setigera#:~:text=In%20areas%20with%20vegetation%20or,has%20larger%20flowers%20and%20rosehips.