Dog Rose

Rosa canina is a thorny, arching wild shrub native to Europe, northwest Africa, and western Asia. It produces pale pink to white flowers in late spring, followed by oval red hips that deepen to scarlet through fall and persist into winter. Its value in the landscape is threefold: wildlife habitat, foraging source, and the primary rootstock onto which the majority of the world's grafted garden roses are budded.

It naturalizes readily in hedgerows, woodland edges, and rough ground and tolerates poor, dry soils that defeat most ornamental shrubs. Stems are heavily hooked and will scramble over fences or neighboring plants if not periodically cut back. A soil pH of 6.0–6.5 suits it well, though it adapts to a wide range. Mulch around the base aids establishment; after that, little intervention is needed. Cold-hardy to zone 3a with no special winter protection required. Suckers may emerge from the root zone and should be removed if a tidy outline is wanted.

Rose hips are among the richest plant sources of vitamin C and have been used in European herbal medicine for centuries for colds, urinary tract complaints, and joint inflammation. Both hips and petals are edible; hips are processed into tea, syrup, jam, and wine. Harvest hips after the first light frost, when sugars have increased and the skins soften slightly.