Harsh downy-rose

Harsh downy-rose: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Dense, arching shrub about 2 m tall and wide, with drooping branches.

Stems

Straight to slightly curved prickles, sometimes with small glandular hairs.

Leaves

5–7 leaflets, doubly toothed, softly felty on both sides; grey-green.

Flowers

Single, pale pink to white flowers of 3–5 cm, in June–July.

Fruit

Red, oval to round hips, often hairy, that hang on into winter.

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

Why grow it?

• A native species: valuable for local wildlife.
• The single flowers provide pollen for bees and hoverflies.
• Red hips in autumn and winter as food for birds.
• A dense, prickly hedge that gives safe nesting sites, with little maintenance.
• Tough and very hardy: tolerates drought and poor, chalky soil.
• The felty, grey-green leaves give a soft tone to a hedge.

Harsh downy-rose: where does it grow best?

• Sun to partial shade; it flowers best in sun.
• Almost any well-drained soil: sand, loam or clay, acid to chalky.
• Dry to normally moist; not permanently wet soil.
• Sheltered or open and windy: it is very tough.
• Allow 1.5–2 m of space per plant; in a hedge, 1 m between plants.

Light

Sun and partial shade

Soil type

Sand, loam or clay

Acidity

Not fussy

Moisture

Dry or normal

Size

2 m tall, 2 m wide

Hardiness

Hardy (to -30 °C)

Goes well with

• Hawthorn: A native hedge shrub that feeds bees and birds.
• Dog rose: Another native wild rose with pink flowers, a good partner in a mixed hedge.
• Wild privet: A sturdy native hedge shrub with white flowers and black berries.
• Dogwood: Red winter stems and strong autumn colour.

Harsh downy-rose: when and how to plant it?

Plant in March–April and October–November.

1. Plant in March–April or in October–November, when the soil is neither frozen nor waterlogged.
2. Dig a hole twice as wide as the root ball and just as deep.
3. Mix the excavated soil with a few spadefuls of compost.
4. Set the plant at the same depth as in its pot, fill in with soil and firm it well.
5. Water in generously straight away, even if it is raining.
6. Spread a layer of compost or bark around the base. For a hedge, set plants 1 m apart, preferably mixed with other native shrubs.

Care

Water

In the first year give a good can of water weekly in dry spells. After that it manages on its own, even in dry summers.

Feeding

Hardly needed. A spadeful of compost in spring is enough.

Mulching

A layer of compost or bark in spring keeps weeds down and the soil moist.

Spent flowers

Do not cut them off: leave them for the hips, which feed birds in winter.

Hedge

Let it grow freely and prune it as little as possible: that gives you the most flowers and hips.

Tip: Plant it in a mixed hedge with other native shrubs and leave the hips for the birds. Prune in February, before the nesting season.

Harsh downy-rose: when to prune it?

Pruning months: February.

When: Prune in February, before the nesting season, and no more often than necessary.

How:

• Remove dead, damaged and weak stems.
• Every three to four years take out about a third of the oldest stems at the base.
• In a hedge: shorten protruding shoots to the shape you want.
• Wear sturdy gloves: the stems are prickly.

Caution: Do not prune during the nesting season (roughly March to August): birds like to nest in dense rose bushes.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Seed

Take the seeds out of ripe hips in autumn and sow them at once in a pot that you leave outdoors. They need cold and often germinate only after one or two winters.

Hardwood cuttings

In October–November take cuttings of 20–25 cm from ripened shoots and push them two-thirds into the ground in a sheltered spot. The success rate is low with wild roses.

Harsh downy-rose: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −30 °C.

• Very hardy to about −30 °C: in Belgium no protection is needed.
• The red hips hang on into winter and feed birds.
• Plant it in the open ground rather than in a pot: it is too big and too vigorous.

Diseases and pests

• Robin’s pincushion gall: Red, hairy, mossy balls on the branches, caused by a gall wasp. They are harmless to the shrub; leave them.
• Aphids: On young shoots and buds in May–June. Rinse them off with water or let ladybirds do the work.
• Powdery mildew: White powder on the leaves in a dry, stuffy spot. Provide air and water at the base and cut away affected shoots.
• Rust and black spot: Sometimes orange pustules or black spots on the leaves in wet years. Rarely serious: clear up affected leaves.

Through the year

• February: Prune: remove dead wood, thin out old stems, before nesting.
• March: Plant. Give compost.
• April: Plant. Spread mulch.
• May: The buds form. Watch for aphids.
• June: Flowering begins.
• July: Flowering. Water young plants in dry weather.
• August: The hips colour.
• September: Red hips. Collect seed.
• October: Plant. Take hardwood cuttings. Sow seed.
• November: Plant. Leave the hips for the birds.
• December: The red hips decorate the winter.

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 species name tomentosa comes from the Latin tomentum, ‘felty down’.
• The harsh downy-rose is a native wild rose that grows here in hedges and at woodland edges.
• The hips of wild roses often hang on into winter and are eaten by thrushes, among others.