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Carolina Rose

bare-root plants
Choose an item size to add to your cart.
$22.00
Item: 7623-A
stock details: 1–3' bare-root plants
$99.00
Item: 7623-B
stock details: 1–3' bare-root plants
Rosa carolina

2-4' × same. Sometimes called Pasture Rose. 

Single 5-petaled flowers in May-June emerge dark pink and fade to light pink in a few days. Even among fancier roses, the simplicity of this one is just right. Very attractive to native pollinators. Produces small bright red hips in fall.

Often seen in colonies along streams, roads and open woods throughout New England. Vigorous spreading canes are ideal for stabilizing banks, slopes and natural hedges.

Can easily be kept in check as a tidier upright specimen by mulching or mowing around the edges, but runners do pop up—plant away from areas where you walk barefoot. 

Highly adaptable to both wet and dry locations. Full sun to partial shade. Much more resistant to foliage diseases than other roses. This native eastern species found in every state east of the Great Plains. Zone 4.

Maine Grown.
ships in spring
Quick Details
Maine Grown
Yes
Pollinator Friendly
Yes
Bloom Color
light pink
Hardy to Zone
4
Additional Information

Small Trees and Shrubs

As Green’s Nursery catalog from 1904 explains, “There are many trees that by pruning can be made to resemble shrubs, and many shrubs that by different pruning may be made to produce medium-sized trees.”

Roses Rosa spp.

Leaves, petals, hips and roots all have medicinal properties. Rose hips (fruits) are rich in vitamin C and make a wonderful “rose apple” jam; rose-petal elixir calms the nerves and lifts the spirit.

Each year, we aim to offer a diverse selection of unusual and antique varieties. Unlike hybrid tea roses, these roses are all vigorous, cold hardy and on their own roots. The antique varieties grow slowly compared to newer hybrids and tend to be more difficult to propagate. You may notice when you receive your order that some of these roses have small root systems and little top growth. Don’t be alarmed by this—it’s just the nature of these old varieties. We can attest that they perform just as well as the others. If roots are tangled, cut them back to 6" or so and spread them out in the planting hole.

Roses are native to temperate regions throughout the world.

Growing Roses

  • Soil: Well-drained soil with a good amount of organic matter.
  • Sun: Full sun, but some will tolerate part shade. Pick a site with good air flow, but avoid sites with cold northwest winds.
  • Spacing: 4–6' apart.
    • Sun: Full sun, but some will tolerate part shade. Pick a site with good air flow, but avoid sites with cold northwest winds.
  • Planting: Plant as early as soil can be worked. The roots of roses don’t spread beyond the original hole, so dig a bushel-sized hole, as deep as 2' or more. Mix soil with liberal quantities of well-rotted manure and compost. Add a coffee-can of rock phosphate or bone meal.
    • Prior to planting, prune plants back to 3–5 of the best canes.
    • Keep roses well mulched to retain moisture and reduce weeds. Add 2 shovelfuls of compost to each crown annually in late fall.
  • Pruning: Other than clipping out any dead wood, shrub roses and climbers require little pruning.

Shipping

Items from our perennial plants warehouse ship from early March through mid-to-late May, weather depending, beginning with warmer USDA zones.