I certainly hope not. From what I can gather, it appears that R.multiflora (and possibly R.woodsii) act as hosts for RRD but if this is not active in your area, I can't think of any reason why you should not have r.species alongside your OGRs. I do, having grown moyesii, nutkana, primula and canina with my roses with no discernable side effects.

The only down side I could think of is the suckering. Wild roses can seriously sucker.

"In this corner, the heavyweight champion of the European Union, able to deal knock out blows to anything under 4 ft tall"

"In this corner, the challenger, a North American relative unknown..."

Ready for the starting bell?

I am told by a friend in Oregon that R. nutkana ("Nootka Rose") is the only thing that can overcome runaway blackberry thickets.
A notable accomplishment!

Jeri

Jeri's right. There are various species roses that can outmaneuver practically any plant in existence.

Go for it. If they look like they are getting out of control, pull them out.

I have a stretch of 14 species roses (incl som near hybrids like Betty Bland, Dr. E.M. Mills, Single Cherry and Louis Riel) in the woodland edge as a backing for the borders with OGR's and perennials in front. The species grow in unimproved dry woodland soil and struggle to survive and don't have a chance to compete with the garden roses in their fat and well watered soil. I don't believe in mixing the species roses with the OGR's.

There's no evidence that species roses are more susceptible to RRD than garden roses. Apparently all roses are susceptible. A plant is more likely to catch a mite if it is bigger or denser than its neighbors, that's all. Multiflora is the primary host because there are big thickets of it all over the Midwest and East.

It depends on the character of the wild roses in question and on your cultivated varieties. If they're close together and one is much more vigorous or much more of a suckerer, or both, than the other, then you could have trouble. But this would be also be true if they were both garden varieties. Phrasing it in terms of wild vs. tame roses sends the discussion off in the wrong direction.

We have a lot of R. canina and R. gallica on our property. The dog roses are big and tall and strong and will scramble way up into trees at need, but they aren't given to suckering. The wild Gallicas sucker and form clumps but rarely get over a foot tall. (They're charming roses, by the way.) Every rose species has its own set of characteristics.

Melissa

With regard to RRD (rose rosette disease), virtually all of the very few roses that are known to resist it are species roses, primarily North American species. Rosa setigera and r. bracteata resist the mites that spread it, while others, like r. californica, r. arkansana, r. carolina, r. virginiana, r. blanda, r. aricularis and r. palustris appear to be immune to the disease itself. R. spinosissima (AKA r. pimpinellifolia) is the only non-American species rose thought to be resistant. The only hybrid garden rose known to have significant resistance is Bonica.

That's not to say that garden hybrids of some of those species, like Betty Bland, Basye's Blueberry and Baltimore Belle* are all vulnerable, I don't think any of them have been tested for it yet, and some will probably resist it. But we don't know yet.

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*I am not to blame for all the Bs in names of rose species hybrids! :-D

lavender_lass, the issue is suckering. Don't under-estimate how far and wide species roses can sucker. Do yourself a favor and don't plant any species of Section Cinnamomeae within 10 or 12 feet of your Lavender Lassie.

Thank you for all the responses. I decided not to plant any wild roses near the kitchen garden, mainly due to suckering. I may put some in front of the lilac bushes next year...still debating about that. It would be pretty when they bloom :)