Prairie Wild Rose

As I was driving home from work yesterday, something pink on the edge of the road caught my eye. 

It was the Prairie Wild Rose starting to bloom. A native plant, it grows primarily along the edge of gravel roads here. Its range is most of central North America between the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains, and from Canada south to New Mexico and Texas. It is very resistant to drought because its roots go down as much as 20 feet. The plant can be anywhere from 1 to 3 feet high.  It blooms for several months here in the late spring/early summer. Each flower stays open for a few days before being spent. The flowers also close at night, and reopen in the morning. On cloudy or rainy days, they stay closed.

It’s been cloudy or rainy here for over a week, so I wasn’t able to get a picture of it fully open.  While the flowers are a pretty pink, the buds are a bright red.

The rose hips contain high levels of vitamin C, and were eaten by the Native Americans.  They also boiled rose hips to make a syrup for a multitude of food uses. The skins of the boiled hips were used to treat stomach troubles. The Chippewa used the second layer of skin beneath the outer skin of the rose hips by  soaking it in water and then using the liquid as eyedrops for sore or inflamed eyes. Both Native Americans and early settlers also ate the leaves, flowers and young shoots as an emergency food source.

On the next sunny day, when the flowers are fully open, I’ll get a good pic to share.

Suzanne

Cattle, corn, wheat, beans, mud, snow, ice, and drought. Plenty of fresh air and quiet. Our life is sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes joyous, but never boring.

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19 Responses

  1. I think you got beautiful photos of the buds. The petals look so soft in the photos.

    • Suzanne says:

      Hi Gardener On Sherlock Street,
      Isn’t the color of the buds something? So red, and then the blooms are surprise- pink.
      Thanks for stopping,
      Suzanne

  2. I swear, you are like a walking encyclopedia. Info. that I have never even thought about, interesting but I don’t have the time to look it up.I enjoy learning something new when I can.

    • Suzanne says:

      Hi Cattle Call Farm
      I was one of those weird kids with my nose in a book. Oh well. I’m glad you’re enjoying my scribblings.
      Take care,
      Suzanne

  3. ellada says:

    I love your blog and the pictures are beautiful.

  4. Statch says:

    This is wonderful information, and the pictures are so pretty. (And thanks for stopping by my blog!)

  5. Teresa says:

    Such beautiful pictures. Personally, I’ve just been cutting rose bushes out of my fence, so I’m not real thrilled with them right now. My goats like to eat them, however.

    • Suzanne says:

      Hi Teresa,
      Oh dear. Well, try not to look. Check out the next post about the noodles instead.
      Take care,
      Suzanne

  6. gp says:

    gorgeous photogs… real eye openers

    gp

  7. Kath says:

    Great pictures and love the info included with them!! I really enjoy seeing wild flowers. They endure alot to flourish and bloom unlike all the gorgeous flowers that we pamper!

    Thanks for stopping by my blog!! I will be back!

    • Suzanne says:

      Hi Kath,
      Wildflowers are the best. If you can grow what is native to your area, you’ll have a trouble free garden.
      Thanks for visiting.

  8. diane says:

    I’ve heard of a prairie rose and now i’ve seen one.

    • Suzanne says:

      Hi Diane,
      The sun is trying to shine here today. Maybe the roses will open, so I can get a pic.
      Thanks for stopping!

  9. Hey! Thanks for leaving a comment over on my blogs! It is nice to “meet” you..we seem to have many of the same interests!
    Your wild rose is beautiful, you captured it so well! I will be back to read more! 🙂

  10. Brenda says:

    Oh how I miss Kansas! The only state I’ve lived in other than my home state of Texas that I truly loved. Great Bend had both the wild roses and the wild plums and the jelly from the plums was wonderful. The chokecherries were great too. Thanks for the fond memories brought back.
    bk

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