I was reading this while also trying to get seeds for the 'prairie mimosa', 'Bundleflower' or Desmanthus illinoensis. We used it one year in our Native Plant Propagation Workshop, and it did really well. We had seeds from the arid west, though here is needs a wetter site to thrive. I did not end up getting it established for me though. It's sort of a sub-shrub, meaning that it will die down nearly completely, with a few woody caudices that will re-sprout. It can get very tall (5 feet or more), but you can trim it. It's beautiful. Needs sun, and likes it hot in the summer. Here's a site - look at the Plant Guide - link on lower left pdf
http://plants.usda.gov/core/pr... as it's really helpful. Get seeds or plants from a source near you - not from the SE as it will be hardier. It's native to Iowa. Oh, and it sort of moves around with the conditions - like sensitive plant or sunflowers.
Roses - I am familiar with Woods Rose and Nootka rose here. They are nice plants. But you are planting a sure way to bleed. They are extremely thorny and catch you with recurved spines, that catch you rip into your flesh, and cause the rest of the branch, and ofter more to whip back and also catch you. They also get quite tall (12 feet, and spread widely). Maybe some of the native roses in your area are not so formidable. I like these in their place though. There are also lots of shrub roses, quite hardy, that are not native, but cultivars (some with native ancestry in them) that could work for you. These need hardly any care at all.
