Species, Wild Rose, Beach Rose, Japanese Rose, Saltspray Rose, Ramanas Rose

I have several colors of rugosa roses in our front yard. Some grow taller than others. They have beautiful, while short-lived, blooms and...Read More the fragrances are lovely. They do not get black-spot which is amazing seeing that we live in a very wooded setting. That's another advantage. They grow well and bloom profusely in a mostly shaded area. Another big plus is that the abundant deer in the area do not eat them. The hips are large and almost as attractive as the flowers. I'm not a master gardener by any stretch of the imagination, but these roses always get such compliments whenever anyone walks past them.

Taken over most of the beaches in the area, forcing out the native cranesbills and hollies. Beach visits are also made troublesome by the...Read Moreir extremely dense thorns. As a garden plant, they grow quickly, but die back more than other bushy roses I know. The blossoms are unsightly compared to basically any other rose, and they only last a few days.

Their only upside is their hips, which are rich in nutrition.

Tough, easy, and adaptable, this species will naturalize happily in beach sand a hundred feet from the ocean. It blooms continuously thro...Read Moreugh the season, with a strong clove/old rose fragrance. Flowers last only a day or so, and they make poor cut flowers. Deadheading helps keep blooms coming, but at the cost of the crop of hips.

This rose does not take well to pruning other than removing dead wood. Cut canes often die back further.

The hips are large and showy---tastiest when softened by frost, and excellent for making rose hip jelly or syrup (high in Vitamin C). The foliage develops excellent yellow-to-red fall color, at least in my climate.

The canes bristle with tightly packed, needle-like prickles.

This species spreads indefinitely---and often aggressively---by suckering when it's grown on its own roots.

It has good resistance to black spot even here on the humid east coast---which is fortunate, because it will quickly defoliate when sprayed with anything but water.

Rosa rugosa has naturalized in 19 states and has now become cause for concern as an invasive plant in dry sandy shorelines, especially in the northeastern US. There it forms extensive spiny thickets that exclude native vegetation. It does not seem to be a problem inland.

Connecticut has declared it "potentially invasive" but has not prohibited its sale.

A fair enough species rose, decent hips. Blooms in July in my garden.