Rosa canina Seeds | Dog Rose
LATIN NAME: Rosa canina
COMMON NAME: Dog Rose
Plant Profile
Dog rose is the arching, thorny shrub of the English hedge, growing two to five metres with hooked prickles, pinnate leaves and single, five-petalled flowers in pink or white in early summer. The hips that follow are large, flask-shaped and bright scarlet, and they persist into winter. It is a plant of hedges, scrub and woodland edge across Europe, western Asia and North Africa, and it is the rootstock on which generations of garden roses have been budded. The flowers are lightly scented and open flat, with a boss of yellow stamens that bees work openly. The prickles are curved and uniform, and they catch clothing and wool with equal efficiency.
Science & Biotechnology
Rosa canina is the classic example of canina meiosis, a peculiar system in which the species behaves as a permanent hybrid: it is usually pentaploid, with an odd chromosome number, and it forms fertile gametes by excluding unmatched chromosomes, so that its offspring are effectively clones of the seed parent. That is why the dog rose is a swarm of slightly different forms and why it is so hard to split into species. It also carries the genes for the rose rosette and blackspot battles, and its hips are among the richest natural sources of vitamin C. Hip colour comes from carotenoids, and the seeds inside are rich in linoleic acid.
Uses & Benefits
The hips are the crop: made into syrup, jelly, tea and rosehip powder, all high in vitamin C and carotenoids, and standardised hip powder has clinical-trial support for joint comfort. The plant is also the traditional rootstock of garden roses, though it is being replaced by more uniform selections. In the garden it is a fine wildlife hedge, a scrambling plant for a bank and a source of winter colour, and it is tough, drought-tolerant and indifferent to soil. The petals make a good jelly and a rosewater, and the wood is hard enough for small carved work. The hips should be cleaned of their irritant hairs before use, which is the one real chore of the harvest.
Growing from Seed
The seed is deeply dormant and needs both warmth and cold: stratify at twenty degrees for eight weeks, then at two to five degrees for twelve to sixteen weeks. Sow in spring and expect germination over several weeks. Grow the seedling in full sun and any reasonable soil, and plant out at two years for a hedge at two-metre spacing. Prune after flowering if hips are not wanted, or leave the hips and prune in late winter instead. It also layers readily where stems touch the ground, which is how a hedge fills in. Do not feed it, since rich soil makes leaf at the expense of flower and hip. Hips are best picked after the first frost, when they soften and lose some of their astringency.
Our Take
The hedge rose that gives the hips, the rootstock and the thorn, and asks for nothing in return. Plant it for the hedge and harvest the hips in November.
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