Swamp Rose

We live in the southwest Indiana highlands.   That means that there are actual hills where we live, unlike in northern Indiana, where I grew up, and where it is so flat that you can see from South Bend to Chicago unless it's planting or harvest time and the tractors and combines are in the way.  

Though we do have hills down here, we don't have lakes.   Naturally occurring lakes do not exist in Indiana, I was told in a limnology class, though we have lots of man made ones.   Thank heaven for the man made ones.   Even though we don't have lakes, we have plenty of wet land.   And we have plenty of wetland plants. 

My favorite is rosa palustris, the swamp rose.    

Here's one that showed up by the small creek.   It's a small one. 

These babies love wet places and in our Squishy Meadow, one has grown to more than 20' x 30'.  Pic below.

That is a single giant rose.   Or maybe a colony.  I don't know what the correct term is.

There's one down the road in the middle of a beaver pond that is even bigger.     Really. 

They have single pink flowers that smell delicious - lighter and more citrus-y than damask roses.   I much prefer their fragrance over the bottled 'rose' fragrance.


So,  there you have it.   A rose to know.