Native Thorny Flowering Shrubs

Types

• Devil's walking stick is a native bush that generates flowers and prodigious thorns. This shrub grows to 20 feet high, notes the University of Connecticut Plant Database. The Chickasaw plum is a thorny shrub of the rose family, growing to between 4 and 20 feet tall. Carolina rose, another thorny bush, grows from 3 to 6 feet high and as wide as 10 feet. Virginia rose, a relative, grows to 6 feet as well. Prairie rose (to 12 feet) and the swamp rose (to 6 feet) are also thorny, but flowering, bushes.

Geography

• Virginia rose is hardy to U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zone 3 and grows wild in the East. The Carolina rose is a native bush in eastern and central sections of North America, able to grow in zones 4 through 9. Swamp rose, native to eastern North America, is appropriate for zones 4 through 9. Prairie rose, able to grow from zones 5 though 8, is a shrub of the central and eastern United States. Chickasaw plum hails from the Deep South, but grows to zone 5. Devil's walking stick grows from Pennsylvania to Florida and west to east Texas and Arkansas. This thorny bush grows from zones 4 through 9.

Flowers

• The white flowers of devil's walking stick bloom during July and August. Chickasaw plum flowers in April before its leaves develop. Swamp rose blooms during June and July with pink flowers. Prairie rose is a June bloomer, with the pink petals fading to white. The aromatic, pink flowers of the Virginia rose open in June. Carolina rose produces a five-petaled, pink flower in May.

Uses

• The different native rose shrubs have multiple landscaping functions. Use Virginia rose to form hedges or take advantage of its ability to tolerate exposure to salt in seaside plantings. Swamp rose is suitable for use in wet soils along pond edges or in your water gardens. Cherokee rose takes the form of a vine when trained to a trellis or arbor. Carolina rose is suitable for shrub borders and rose gardens. Devil's walking stick's fearsome thorns make it ill-suited for where people walk frequently, but it is fine for woodland edges and naturalized areas. Chickasaw plum creates screens, hedges and aids in the prevention of erosion.