Rosa carolina

Product Info

Carolina Rose (Rosa carolina)
Rose Family

This short, wild rose has 2”,  bright pink flowers that are followed by large red hips. Flowers produce pollen only, and are a favorite of long tongue bees. Rose hips provide food for small mammals and birds, and can also be used to make tea or jelly. Flowers best in full sun with moist, but well drained soils. It is quite drought tolerant once established. It can spread by suckers making it a good candidate for erosion control or as an addition to a thicket. Suckers can be removed if spreading is not desired. This rose is considered to be much more disease resistant than modern roses and typically has attractive foliage during the entire growing season. It does not need support to grow, but does look nice against short fences.

Blooms: Pink, 3-4 weeks, May-June, fragrant
Leaves: Bright green, compound leaves are lightly prickly and largely disease free
Height: 2-3’
Space: 3-4’
Soil: Average-Dry-Moist
Exposure:  Full sun-Part sun
Fauna: Mostly bees, but some flies and beetles, host plant for several lepidoptera, seeds for birds and mammals
Seeds: Large, bright red hips appear in late summer and early fall
Deer Resistance: Medium
Zone: 4-9
Native Status: NC native, common across the state
Provenance: NC, seed grown