Climbing Prairie Rose

Size, growth and what to expect

It grows fast, nearly three feet a year in our growth estimator. Without support it grows 3 to 4 feet tall and rambles 6 to 10 feet wide. On a fence or arbor its prickly canes climb to about 15 feet.

Clusters of rose-pink flowers 2 to 3 inches across open from May to August across the range, mostly from mid-June through July, later than most roses. The petals fade toward white, and the flowers smell faintly of rose. Female plants set bright red hips about a third of an inch across, ripe from late summer into fall. The leaves turn red, orange, purple and yellow in fall.

It grows wild across the Midwest and the South, from Michigan and Wisconsin to Texas and Georgia, on prairies, woodland borders, roadsides and fence rows. In New England, along much of the Atlantic coast and in Mississippi and Louisiana, it was brought in from the Midwest or escaped from gardens.

How to grow Climbing Prairie Rose

Climbing prairie rose flowers best in full sun, and in part shade it blooms less and suffers more disease. It wants a well-drained soil and will not stand in water. Sand, loam or clay suits it, acid to slightly alkaline. Once rooted it takes dry spells. Its canes need a fence, arbor or trellis to climb, or room to sprawl. Set plants 12 feet apart, and keep each one 5 feet from a wall. It is small enough to grow within 15 feet of overhead wires.

Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them dormant, from leaf fall until bud swell, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the crown at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and keep the mulch clear of the canes. Pick the hips as soon as they turn red, and clean out the seed at once. Sow it outdoors in fall a quarter inch deep, and seedlings come up the next spring. For spring, hold it damp in the refrigerator for 90 to 120 days first.

Water weekly through the first summer. Prune in late winter or early spring, cutting canes back to make it branch, and tie long canes to their support. Rabbits and deer eat the leaves and stems, so guard young plants with wire.

Each plant is male or female, and only females bear hips, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female. Honey bees and bumble bees carry the pollen. Birds and small mammals eat the hips from late summer into fall. It resists disease better than most garden roses, though leaf spots, mildew, rust, black spot and rose rosette can strike it. It does not tolerate heavy salt spray or black walnut roots.