Apple rose

Apple rose: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Dense, upright shrub 1.5–2 m tall and about 1.5 m wide, with straight, slender prickles.

Foliage

Pinnate with 5–7 leaflets, grey-green and softly downy, with glandular hairs that smell lightly of apple.

Flower

Single, deep pink, 4–5 cm across, with yellow stamens. Flowers in June.

Fruit

Large, round to egg-shaped hips of 2–3 cm, red and bristly, ripe from August to October.

Roots

Deep-rooting and robust. May spread slowly by a few suckers.

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

Why grow it?

• Single pink flowers in June, full of nectar and pollen for bees and bumblebees.
• Eye-catching large red hips from late summer into autumn, both ornamental and food for birds.
• Grey-green foliage with a light apple scent, pretty alongside other shrubs.
• Edible hips for jam, syrup or tea, as long as you remove the seeds and hairs.
• Tough and hardy with little pruning and few diseases, ideal for a natural garden or a wildlife hedge.

Apple rose: where does it grow best?

• Sun to partial shade; in sun it flowers more freely and sets more hips.
• Ordinary, well-drained garden soil: sand, loam or clay, acid to chalky.
• Moist to dry; it tolerates drought better than many other roses, but not long spells with wet feet.
• Hardy and robust, even in a windy spot.
• Allow 1.5 m per plant; for a natural hedge, plant 1 m 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

• Lavender: Grey-blue scent and flowers in the same sun, especially pretty as a front edge.
• Cranesbill: A sturdy ground cover with blue or pink flowers under the shrub.
• Catmint: A long blue flowering season that attracts butterflies and bees.
• Hawthorn: Together in a mixed, natural hedge with berries for birds.
• Sage: Grey-green foliage and blue flowers that complement the pink rose nicely.

Apple rose: when and how to plant it?

Plant in March–April and October–November.

1. Plant in October–November or March–April, on a frost-free day. Bare-root plants can also be planted in winter.
2. Dig a hole twice as wide as the roots and loosen the bottom.
3. Set the plant at the same depth as in its pot or nursery and refill with the garden soil, adding a little compost if you like.
4. Leave 1–1.5 m between plants, or 1 m for a hedge.
5. Water in generously straight away and firm the soil well.
6. Spread a layer of compost or bark mulch around the base, keeping it clear of the stem.

Care

Water

In the first year, water generously once a week in dry weather. After that it copes, except in long dry summers.

Feeding

Little needed. A spade of compost in spring is enough; too much nitrogen gives soft growth and more disease.

Mulching

A layer of compost or bark in March keeps the soil moist and weed-free.

Harvesting hips

Pick the hips when they are bright red and still firm, in September–October. Halve them and remove seeds and hairs for jam or tea.

Suckers

Dig out unwanted suckers in spring or autumn, together with a piece of root.

Tip: Wait until the hips are bright red and still feel firm before picking. Always remove the seeds and hairs before cooking them.

Apple rose: when to prune it?

Pruning months: February–March.

When: In February–March, before it leafs out. Little pruning is needed.

How:

• Remove dead, damaged and crossing branches completely.
• Every 2–3 years, take out a quarter of the oldest stems at the base to renew the shrub.
• Shorten overlong or stray shoots back to a strong side shoot.
• Dig out unwanted suckers with a spade.

Caution: Do not cut all branches back hard: the flowers and hips form on side shoots of older wood, so you would lose them.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Seed

Collect seed in autumn, let the hips rot down or pick out the seeds, and sow them fresh outdoors in October–November. The seed needs a cold spell and germinates slowly, sometimes only after two winters.

Suckers

In October or March, separate a rooted sucker from the parent plant and replant it straight away elsewhere.

Hardwood cuttings

In October–November, take 20–25 cm cuttings of ripened wood and insert them half their length into the soil. Success rates vary.

Apple rose: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −30 °C.

• Fully hardy, down to about −30 °C: no protection is needed in Belgian winters.
• Leave the hips on the shrub, as they are winter food for birds.
• It is less suited to a pot because it needs a deep root run; plant it in the open ground instead.

Diseases and pests

• Powdery mildew: White powder on leaves and shoots, especially in dry, still spells. Keep the shrub airy, thin it out and water in dry weather.
• Rust: Orange pustules under the leaves in summer. Remove affected leaves and put them in the household waste.
• Black spot: Black spots with fringed edges on the leaves. Clear fallen leaves in autumn and thin the shrub for more air.
• Aphids: Colonies on young shoots in May–June. Wash them off with water or let ladybirds and hoverflies do the work.

Through the year

• February: Prune: dead wood and a quarter of the old stems.
• March: Plant. Finish pruning. Mulch.
• April: Plant. Dig out suckers. Apply compost.
• May: Watch for aphids. Water in dry weather.
• June: Flowering. Bees and bumblebees in the garden.
• August: Hips turn from orange to red.
• September: Harvest hips for jam or tea.
• October: Plant. Leave some hips for birds. Sow seed.
• November: Plant. Clear fallen leaves.
• December: Rest. The hips decorate the garden.

Edible and useful

Fruit (August–September)

In August and September the apple rose bears large, round, deep red and slightly bristly hips, up to 3 cm across. They are fleshier than dog rose hips and so ideal for jam, soup and syrup. Pick them when they are deep red and just starting to soften.

Storing

Fresh hips keep for a week in the fridge. Seeded and halved, they can be frozen or dried for tea.

Caution: Inside are seeds with fine hairs that itch and irritate the mouth and gut (the itching powder of childhood): always remove them carefully, or strain the purée through a fine cloth. Wear gloves when picking and cleaning: the hips and stems are prickly.

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

Recipes

• Apple rose hip jam (Jam · ± 3 jars · 1 hr 30)

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?

• A rose hip is really a false fruit: the true fruits are the hairy seeds inside.
• An old scientific name, Rosa pomifera, means ‘apple-bearing rose’, after the large round hips.
• The hairs inside the hip were once used by children as itching powder.