Thank you, Ingrid. It really is an adorable little rose, so often overlooked by people going on about their lives. Around here it is considered something of a 'weed' because it grows in fields and along roadsides and most people never even notice it. The blooms are petite but very frilly and charming. I also love the buds with their elongated sepals. I agree with belmont....in the garden it isn't invasive. It does sucker, but it is very 'polite' about it and doesn't overtake the garden. There is a small thicket of it down the road from here along the roadside that gets mowed down each summer but keeps bouncing back. The road salt that gets thrown down all winter long doesn't faze it either. Here's another photo to illustrate the lovely little buds.... Celeste

I've seen a leaf gall and a stem gall on the naturalized Sweet Brier out here. It's thought that the gall wasps were accidentally imported with the Sweet Brier. They aren't terribly harmful, as they aren't crown galls or bud galls and won't affect flower. You'll see a lot of careless identification online, with a lot of different galls all given the same name. My distinct impression is that the gall-causing wasps are quite specific as to the hosts they favor. There are definitely problems with a couple of gall-causing wasps invading garden roses in Canada, but they aren't wasps that favor Sweet Brier. One of the great experts is Dr. J.D. Shorthouse, who has written at length about the various species of gall wasps and the assorted insects that parasitize them. Here is a link that might be useful: Gallery of Rose galls

Wow, lots of discussion here overnight. I hadn't thought about hybrid multifloras . . . the green canes and thornlessness could go along with that . . . this little guy is showing no signs of flowering in clusters, though. It's got single main buds on the laterals, with two side buds. No variation from this pattern anywhere on the plant. BTW, what constitutes a 'fringed stipule'? I've been comparing this rose to everything in the garden, and I don't see that its stipules are any more fringy than some of the others I have. The comparison to Seven Sisters is an interesting one. To my experience, there are a lot of roses out there being passed off as Seven Sisters -- some with different habits and bloom styles and sizes. The only one I've ever seen in person is one we planted at a public garden downtown, and we doubted that it was the real thing. The flowers are much smaller than my rose, and it always flowers in clusters. I checked the photos of Seven Sisters on HMF, but I couldn't find one that showed enough of the leaves or buds or canes to make a good comparison. The Lansdowne rose started last year with a main cane (the one that I rooted the year before) and one basal. Over the course of the year, it sent up at least 6 other basal canes to make quite a little cluster of canes. No signs of suckering away from the base of the plant, though. As far as comparing this to my other roses, I find that this one sort of resembles my Madame Plantier. Both are thornless, with green canes, with main and sidebuds on the flowering laterals. MP was new to me last year, so I haven't had a chance to compare the flowers in person yet, though some of the photos of it on HMF are a dead-ringer for my rose, except that the flowers on MP are white. This probably doesn't help us narrow the choice of class for my rose, since the Madame has conflicting classifications -- is she a noisette, or an alba, or what? The photo of MP in the link below shows some of the characteristics of my rose. Some of the buds are fat with shorter sepals, and some are fringy and foliose (I love that word, thanks Melissa.) I wish the mama rose wasn't gone. Connie P.S. We can trade cuttings later in the year -- it's a little bit too early to do that here. Here is a link that might be useful: Marcia's Madame Plantier HMF photo

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