Apple rose (Rosa
pomifera and
rugosa)
Young plants about 15 - 20 cm high, grown in 7 cm pots.
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Small Shrubs
R. pomifera In stock
special offer 3 for 2
£6.50
R. rugosa In stock
£6.00
We have two species of apple rose that produce large hips.
Rosa pomifera or villosa, known as the apple rose, is a handsome shrub in its own right, growing up to 1 - 2 m tall given the chance, with single pink flowers and large bristly hips. It likes a sunny sheltered spot but almost any soil that isn’t water logged will do.
Also known as the ramanas rose,
R. rugosa
is not generally as tall as
R. pomifera, but more spreading. It has larger hips that are round like golf balls, soft and fleshy though, and it is sometimes grown as a small informal hedge. Easy to grow, sometimes even doing a bit too well on the coast in sandy soils, it has large single flowers of either dark pink or white.
Everyone knows how good hips are, full of vit C, they make delicious syrup and wine. Do be sure to remove all the hairy stuff round the seeds though, as this can irritate the gut. (Naughty schoolboys once used it as itching powder!)