My Ballerina and Veilchenblau have clusters of small hips like that and almost no thorns. Robinhood too, but it's a bit thorny. Ballerina's have been very pretty. Firm shiney round hips, nice color. The local wild rose makes nice sprays (good color) but they're airier (hips further apart). I don't know what would grow in MI, though.

I read up lots about roses from seed and harvested hips from about six different varieties a few years ago. I tried summer, winter, and spring sowing and I had no success whatever. Perhaps like Don, you will have success in your zone. The only way I've managed to propogate roses is by rooting cuttings, which was suprisingly easy. You may want to try both methods.

I have a couple volunteers showing up in my yard that at least I know aren't Rosa multiflora. I've been eagerly awaiting for them to flower so I have a better chance of telling what they are. I'm linking to an article at a site you might enjoy since the writer sounds like she's into these and knowledgeable too. I do like native roses, but have much more to learn about them. -- Lori Here is a link that might be useful: The Native Roses of North America at wildlifegardeners.org

I've grown R. setigera. It's pretty rugged and quite showy in bloom, although the bloom period is rather short. Jap beetles do like it, as they do all rose family members. The plant gets big and sprawly if just allowed to do its thing, which is how I grew mine. Since it is a 'climbing' rose, you could train it the way one trains those types. It certainly puts out long enough canes. A different native rose you might consider if it suits your needs is R. palustris, Marsh Rose. Despite its common name it grows just fine in ordinary garden conditions, making a very large, gracefully arching shrub. It's minimally thorny and the blooms are a very bright, quite lovely pink, showier to my eye than R. setigera. It also will take a little shade with no complaint. I've grown L. sempervirens, too, both the straight species and quite a few cultivars. Unlike maifleur's experience, I haven't seen it sprout all over (I wonder if maifleur was thinking of trumpet creeper, Campsis radicans). This plant has the advantage of being evergreen, obviously, and it's a constant hummingbird magnet. It's a true twining vine, and certain varieties bloom all summer and are powdery mildew resistant, a disease which can be a scourge of this species. 'Cedar Lane' is a lovely variety with glaucous blue-green foliage, and the new 'Major Wheeler' is said to be highly mildew resistant. I have seen deer take rose hips in winter, but I've never seen them really damage the plant, although maybe I've just been lucky. They leave my lonicera alone.