Red-leaved rose

Red-leaved rose: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Upright, later gently arching shrub about 2 m tall and 1.5 m wide, with reddish-purple stems.

Leaves

Compound, with 5–9 leaflets, blue-grey with a purple flush; more purple in sun, greyer in partial shade.

Flowers

Single, 3–4 cm, bright pink with a white centre and yellow stamens, in June. Each flower is short-lived, but there are many.

Fruit

Round to oval, glossy red hips of 1.5 cm, in clusters from September.

Thorns

Few, mainly on the lower stems; young stems are almost smooth.

Flowering: June · Harvest and fruit: June and September–November · Plants: March–April and October–November · Pruning: March

Why grow it?

• Beautiful blue-grey to purple foliage from spring to autumn: an ornamental shrub in its own right.
• Small, single pink flowers in June, rich in pollen for bees and bumblebees.
• Glossy red hips in autumn, food for birds in winter.
• Tough and healthy, fully hardy and happy in ordinary to fairly dry soil.
• Stems with leaves and hips are popular in flower arrangements.
• Little pruning: removing a few old stems in March is enough.

Red-leaved rose: where does it grow best?

• Sun to partial shade. In sun the leaves are more purple, in partial shade more blue-grey.
• Any well-drained garden soil: sand, loam or clay, acid to chalky.
• Dry to moderately moist: once established it copes well with drought.
• Lovely as a specimen, at the back of a border, in an informal hedge or in a wildlife garden.
• Allow about 1.5 m; in a hedge, plant 80–100 cm apart.

Light

Sun and partial shade

Soil type

Sand, loam or clay

Acidity

Not fussy

Moisture

Dry or normal

Size

2 m tall, 1.5 m wide

Hardiness

Hardy (to -30 °C)

Goes well with

• Catmint: Lavender-blue flowers at the base that suit the grey-purple foliage.
• Hardy geranium: A loose underplanting in pink, blue or purple.
• Ornamental onion: Purple globes that push through the foliage in June.
• Wormwood: Silver-grey leaves that bring out the blue in the rose.
• Ornamental grasses: Airy plumes beside the hips in autumn.

Red-leaved rose: when and how to plant it?

Plant in March–April and October–November.

1. Plant in March–April or October–November; bare-root roses are best planted in November or March.
2. Stand a bare-root plant in a bucket of water for a few hours first; plunge a potted plant until no more air bubbles rise.
3. Dig a hole of about 40 × 40 cm and mix some compost into the soil you dug out.
4. Set the plant at the same depth as in the pot or, if bare-root, to just above the root collar, and firm the soil well.
5. Water in thoroughly straight away.
6. Spread a layer of compost or wood chips around the base.

Care

Water

In the first year, a full watering can each week in dry spells. After that, rarely needed.

Feeding

In March, a spadeful of compost or some organic fertiliser. Rich rose fertiliser is not needed.

Mulching

A layer of compost or wood chips in spring keeps the soil moist and feeds soil life.

Spent flowers

Do not deadhead: the faded flowers turn into hips.

Seedlings

Birds sometimes sow it around the garden. Pull out unwanted seedlings while they are small.

Tip: Give it a spot in sun or light partial shade and let it grow freely. Prune little: in March, just remove old stems at the base, and you keep young, richly coloured foliage.

Red-leaved rose: when to prune it?

Pruning months: March.

When: It needs little pruning. In March, just remove old stems at the base.

How:

• Every year or every other year, cut one or two of the oldest, least attractive stems right down at the base: young stems have the best foliage.
• Remove dead, diseased and crossing stems.
• Do not shorten all the stems: you would lose the graceful shape, the flowers and the hips.

Caution: Wear sturdy gloves against the thorns on the lower stems.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Seed

In autumn, take the seeds from ripe hips and sow them in a pot left outdoors: they need a winter of cold to germinate. Seedlings usually closely resemble the parent.

Hardwood cuttings

In October–November: cuttings of 20–25 cm from sturdy stems of the current year, pushed two thirds into the soil in a sheltered spot. Transplant after a year.

Red-leaved rose: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −30 °C.

• Fully hardy to about −30 °C: no protection needed.
• Leave the hips on: they decorate the winter garden and thrushes and blackbirds eat them.
• It can also grow in a large container, but stand it against a wall so the root ball does not freeze solid.

Diseases and pests

• Aphids: On young shoots and buds in spring. Leave them to ladybirds and tits, or hose them off with water.
• Black spot: Black spots on the leaves, which turn yellow and drop. It is not very prone, but it can appear in wet summers. Clear up fallen leaves and keep the shrub open.
• Rust: Orange pustules on the undersides of the leaves in summer. Remove affected leaves and avoid wetting the foliage.
• Powdery mildew: White powder on young leaves, mainly in drought. Water at the base and choose an airy spot.

Through the year

• March: Remove old stems at the base. Add compost. Plant.
• April: Plant. Watch for aphids.
• May: The purple-grey foliage is at its best.
• June: Flowering: small pink flowers full of bees.
• July: Leave faded flowers for the hips. Water in dry spells.
• September: The hips turn red. Cut stems for arrangements.
• October: Plant. Take hardwood cuttings.
• November: Plant, including bare-root roses.
• December: Leave the hips as winter food for birds.

Edible and useful

Flowers (June)

In June, on a dry morning, pick some of the pale pink petals; leave plenty of flowers for hips and insects. They are edible and give a light rose scent to syrup, sugar or a salad.

Fruit (September–November)

Harvest rose hips from late September, when they are bright red and still firm, or after the first frost, when they are softer and sweeter. They are rich in vitamin C and make tea, syrup, purée and jam. The seeds and their itchy hairs must always be removed.

Storing

Dry halved, deseeded hips on a rack or in the oven at 40–50 °C until hard, and keep them in a closed jar. Whole hips can be frozen, which also softens them. Dry petals spread out on paper in the shade.

Fermenting

Rose hip wine is an old country recipe: the hips are fermented with sugar, water and yeast.

Caution: The seeds sit in a layer of fine hairs that irritate the mouth, throat and gut (children once used them as itching powder): remove them carefully and strain teas and syrups through a fine cloth or coffee filter. Only pick hips from wild or unsprayed roses, away from busy roads. Do not confuse the red hips with the poisonous berries of spindle, yew or honeysuckle, for example.

Eating and using is at your own risk: see the terms of use.

Recipes

• Rose hip tea (Tea · 1 teapot (± 4 cups) · 5 min + 10 min simmering)
• Rose hip syrup (Syrup · ± 750 ml · 1 hour + 2 rounds of draining)
• Rose petal sugar (Other · ± 250 ml · 20 min + 1–2 days drying)
• Rose hip soup (Dish · 4 servings · 1 hr)

Good for wildlife

Bees

Nectar and pollen for honeybees and wild bees.

Birds

Berries, seeds or insects as food, or a place to nest.

Did you know?

• The colour of the leaves depends on the light: purplish in sun, more blue-grey in shade.
• It used to be called Rosa rubrifolia, literally ‘red-leaved rose’.
• It is a true wild species: it comes fairly true from seed, so seedlings closely resemble the parent.