Nootka rose – Sequim Daily Photo

Wild rose

The local native Nootka roses (rosa nutkana) are in bloom. Unlike their fancy domestic cousins, they grow like weeds in hedges that can get up to eight feet high and fill broad expanses. Sun or partial shade, wet or dry areas, they aren’t too fussy about where they grow. Landscapes where they grow now are polka dotted with these wonderfully fragrant pink blossoms that bud, bloom, and fade within days.

When the light is just so, like the branches when flush with new growth, the thorns have a reddish hue.

Wet or dry, it’s spring

The wild nootka roses (rosa nutkana) are blooming again, despite what feels like continual rain. Hillsides at the Dungeness Recreation Area have bushes polka dotted with pink.

The blossoms only last a few days, but the bushes are profuse with them. And their perfume is wonderful. Below is the view along the trail where these flowers grew along the Dungeness Bluffs. The Olympic Mountains in the distance are cloaked in one of the day’s many rain squalls.

Then and Now – Nootka Rose

Sequim is rightfully known for its beautiful cultivated lavender, but one of my favorite native flowers is the Nootka rose. It can tolerate growing near salt water and is profuse in the Dungeness Recreation Area. Leaves first appear in spring from thorny branches. By early summer the bushes are lavish with buds and blossoms. I love the heady rose fragrance, though it’s rarely carried on the breeze unless it’s warm. The scent is usually saved for noses that get up close and personal.

Summer rose bushes are now a sea of bright red hips. The branches have lost their leaves and look bramble-y, so characteristic of Washington in the winter. The hips, or rose berries, don’t ripen all at once, which helps provide food over a longer period for many birds, small mammals, deer, and elk. They are a good source of vitamin C for human cooks who are willing to turn them into jellies or tea.

Roses readily intermingle with snowberries. This photo doesn’t do it justice. Through the winter they brighten the landscape with their red and white berries, a cheerful touch in a sea of dormant plants.

Wild beauties

One of the more gorgeous sights of early summer is the native nootka roses that bloom profusely in sunny areas. In addition to their delicate beauty they perfume the air with a heady, classic rose fragrance. They come and go within a couple of months, making their ephemeral beauty all the more special. By fall the bushes are covered with bright red hips.