Michigan rose (Climbing rose)

Rosa setigera Michx.

Family: Rosaceae (rose)

Michigan rose (Climbing rose)

Anna Fiedler, MSU Entomology

Michigan or climbing rose

  • Bloom Period:
    • Early,
  • Growth Cycle:
    • Perennial,
  • Growth Habit:
    • Shrub,
  • Insect Type Attracted:
    • Natural Enemy,
    • Pollinator,
  • Light:
    • Full,
    • Partial,
  • Region:
    • Northern Lower Peninsula,
    • Southern Lower Peninsula,
    • Upper Peninsula
  • Soil Moisture:
    • Medium,
  • Height:
    • 12ft

Natural enemies attracted

Moderately attractive: Orius insidiosus.

Mildly attractive: Thomisidae, Chalcidoidea, Empididae, Syrphidae, Cynipoidea, Salticidae and Dolichopodidae.

Pollinators attracted

Mildly attractive: bees including sweat bees and bumble bees.

Pests attracted

Moderately attractive: lygus bugs, Japanese beetles, and leafhoppers.

Mildly attractive: thrips, froghoppers, tephritid fruit flies, aphids and weevils.

Plant notes

Simple, pale-pink roses that are 2-3 inches wide bloom on this plant. Long canes are produced annually on this vigorous shrub, which will grow on a trellis to 12 ft. Plants first bloomed in their third year of growth, at which point they had more than filled in the planting area and grown to 3 ft tall. Plants bloomed in early July. This species was tenth most attractive to natural enemies in the mid season, with fewer natural enemies than in the grass control.

Habitat

Michigan rose grows in full to partial sun, and mid-range soil moisture (neither very wet nor very dry). It naturally occurs in open woods and thickets.

Cultivation and management

It can be grown from seed (flowers in fourth year) or plug material (flowers in third year). This rose species is a large climbing type that can be easily trained to grow on a trellis.