Carolina rose

Photo: D. Gordon E. Robertson — CC BY-SA 3.0 · source

Survives zone 4 through 9

Harvest calendar

Best planted in early spring after your last frost, or in fall before the ground freezes, depending on your climate.

Also called pasture rose — a low, easy species of dry, open ground rather than a formal garden setting. Small, pear-shaped hips hold their colour well into winter and are a significant food source for game birds.

Hardiness

Zone 4–9

Habit

Shrub

Edible part

Fruit

Ripens

Aug–Oct

Mature size

Low, 15 cm to 1.5 m tall, 0.3–1.5 m wide — highly variable with site

Light

Full sun to part shade

Soil pH

5.0–7.5 (acid to mildly alkaline)

Environment

Temperate

Native range

Eastern United States — Maine to Wisconsin, south to Texas and Florida.

Status

Wild

Years to fruit

2–3 yrs

Growth speed

Medium

Spacing

120 cm (47 in) apart — about 1.4 m² (16 sq ft) per plant

Leaf shape

Pinnately compound, 5–7 ovate leaflets to 5 cm, serrated margins, hairy central stem

Root system

Deep and strongly suckering, throwing new shoots from spreading lateral roots — which is how wild roses build thickets, and worth knowing before siting one in a small bed. The suckers are also the easiest way to get another plant.

Fruit description

Small red hip 8–12 mm across, rounded to slightly pear-shaped, ripening late summer and often persisting into winter. Thin flesh over a core of seeds wrapped in fine irritant hairs — strain those out before eating; the flesh itself is pleasantly tart and rich in vitamin C.

Propagation

Root or stem cuttings, or seed; also spreads naturally by suckering.

Pollination

Hermaphrodite and bee-pollinated, self-compatible — a single bush will set hips. Cross-pollination between two plants still gives heavier set and better seed fill, so a pair does better than a lone specimen.

The edible parts listed above are a starting point, not a field guide. Identify a plant with certainty — ideally against a local authority — before eating any part of it, and read the full disclaimer. Spotted something wrong? Report it.