Swamp Rose
Rosa palustris
The rose for wet ground: it takes standing water, covers arching canes in pink June blooms, and holds red hips for winter birds.
Typically 1 quart–3 gal · $17–$85 · final price at pickup
- Thu, Aug 138 AM – 4 PM
- Fri, Aug 148 AM – 4 PM
- Sat, Aug 158 AM – 2 PM
The only native rose that thrives in wet soil and standing water. pink summer blooms, red winter hips, structural canes for nesting birds.
Swamp rose is the native rose for the wetland edge, the only North American rose that tolerates having its roots in standing water for extended periods. In June and July, the single pink blooms cover the arching canes with the clean, uncomplicated beauty of a wild rose. There's no fussiness to this plant: it grows along stream banks, pond margins, and wet swales and asks only that it stay moist. The red hips that ripen in late summer and fall persist through winter, providing a critical food source for birds when the season has stripped most other fruit from the landscape. The canes are arching and densely bristled, creating good nesting structure for birds. This is a plant for naturalistic wet gardens, rain gardens, and the low margins of ponds, exactly the spots where a conventional rose would fail immediately.
A nursery-grown plant, ready for the ground.
Healthy, container-grown swamp rose propagated on-site at Hill House from regional genetics. Includes a one-page care card. We make every effort to supply plants as listed; occasionally we substitute a similar species of equal value.
Plant swamp rose instead of Multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora) in wetland margins. Same job in the garden, without the spread.
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Average
- Mature size
- 4–7 ft · 4–8 ft wide
- Bloom time
- June–July
- Bloom color
- Pink
- USDA zones
- 4–9
- Family
- Rosaceae
- Native range
- Eastern North America from Nova Scotia to Florida along wetland margins, stream banks, and swamps
Care notes for swamp rose.
Moist to wet soil in full sun to part shade. Tolerates periodic flooding and heavy clay. Spreads by suckering. allow in naturalized areas; remove suckers if keeping contained. Remove oldest canes in late winter to maintain productive new growth. No fertilization needed; this is a tough plant in its preferred habitat.
Pairs well with these.
Same light, same soil, same wildlife. Janet's picks to plant alongside swamp rose.
Or skip the guesswork.
Curated packages bundle complementary species for an instant habitat. One reservation, one pickup day, a printed layout map.
Short on Space Package
For gardeners who have an abundance of passion but are short on space, this package features tidy, upright, clump-forming natives that behave and function well in small spaces.
Shade Bed Package
Ferns, sedges, and woodland natives that thrive under existing trees.
Birder’s Paradise Package
For the avid bird watchers and budding ornithologists in our community, the Birder’s Paradise Package consists of species that Hill House Nursery staff and longtime native plant advocates such as Doug Tallamy consider ‘premier bird garden plants’.