A Grower Perspective

 We started doing something new at our weekly company meetings at Pleasant Hill Nursery.  At each meeting, someone has to bring in a plant from the nursery and educate everyone about that plant.  The goal is to help those with less knowledge to become more educated about plants.  Truth is, we all learn something. 

It was my turn this week and I chose Rosa rugosa.  It was one of my mom's many favored plants.  Dave remembers her collecting seed and starting her own Rosa rugosas.  (I'm grateful he has these memories from her days being around her in the nursery.) I researched this plant and had great fun sharing my new findings with the group.  Here's what I learned about

rugosa roses:

• They came from Asia to this country in the mid-1800's.
• They are easy to grow - far less troublesome than traditional roses. (Less susceptible to disease and insect issues)
• They are forgiving of growing conditions but thrive in well-drained soil.
• Most will be in the 4' - 6' height range.
• They bloom all summer - more prolific early on but blooms throughout.
• Flowers are 2 1/2"+, fragrant and come in pinks, white, yellow and even purple depending on variety.  There are single petal and double petal flowers.
• The flowers are followed by rose hips in late summer and the rose hips offer vibrant late summer/early fall color.
• You can eat the rose hips as a fresh fruit (although full of seeds) and they're full of Vitamin C & E. People make teas, jams, jellies and other food items with the rose hips.
• Prune in the winter by cutting old canes to the ground.

It's downside?  Perhaps its prickly and thorn-covered branches.  And yet even this is a benefit if you plant it as a hedge around a garden that is troubled by small rodents, rabbits or deer.  They do not like to pass through the branches!

There are many other wonderful attributes to these plants - these were just a few highlights.  A couple sources even suggested wrapping butter in the fragrant petals and dropping the petals in a container of sugar to infuse the butter and sugar with the sweet smell and flavor.

It was really fun to research and dig deep to learn all I could and then to share these interesting tidbits with everyone here.  We all became hugely inspired about this lovely shrub that we grow and sell.

I'm sure part of my affinity for Rosa rugosa is that it's a summer-long blooming rose and that my mother loved it so.  However, I also find it intriguing that so much good comes from just one plant.  It's gorgeous and easy - anyone can grow it.  It offers wide landscape appeal and design benefits.  It provides color with both blooms and the rose hips.  It has medicinal purposes.  And it has edible qualities too.  Clever cooks can find many interesting ways to use it.   

Now, hopefully you know more than you might have known before about Rosa rugosa.  Surely you have a place in your landscape or garden for one.  It'll provide you years of visual pleasure....and you can enjoy it while sipping tea you made from the rose hips.