Description
Deciduous flowering shrub
Description: Semi-double fragrant pink blossoms in late spring followed by smooth, red hips. Nearly thornless.
Habit: Grows to 7 feet high, with a weeping, willow-like habit.
Culture: Prefers fun sun or light shade and rich garden loam. Tolerates wet or dry soils. Disease resistant.
Cold Hardiness: USDA Zones 3 through 9.
The Swamp Rose is a vigorous and very desirable North American species found in the wild from Quebec to Florida and first introduced in 1726. This naturally arching form was recognized before 1824 and is often found in old Southern gardens. According to rose expert William Welch, it was in the collection of Empress Josephine of France, and painted by Pierre Joseph Redouté as Rosa hudsoniana scandens. It produces abundant, dark green foliage on reddish stems and it flowers intermittently over a long period.