Cluster rose

Photo: Stan Shebs — CC BY-SA 3.0 · source

Survives zone 6 through 9

Harvest calendar

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

Named for its hips, which are small (about 1 cm), pear- or egg-shaped, and borne in clusters rather than singly — showy red to reddish-purple through fall and early winter. A Pacific Northwest species of moist ground. ⚠ Deseed the hips before eating: the ring of stiff hairs around the seeds is a gut and skin irritant, and is what old-fashioned itching powder was made from. Strain it out of any purée or syrup.

Hardiness

Zone 6–9

Habit

Shrub

Edible part

Fruit, Shoot

Ripens

Sept–Nov

Mature size

To about 2.5 m (8 ft)

Light

Full sun to part shade

Soil pH

5.5–7.5 (mildly acid to mildly alkaline)

Environment

Temperate

Native range

Western North America — southern British Columbia to northern California, mostly west of the Cascades, extending to northern Idaho.

Status

Wild

Years to fruit

2–3 yrs

Growth speed

Moderate

Spacing

150 cm (59 in) apart — about 2.3 m² (24 sq ft) per plant

Leaf shape

Pinnate with five to nine thin leaflets, sharply toothed, on slender stems with weak straight prickles.

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, pear- or egg-shaped hips in clusters, red to reddish-purple

Propagation

Seed (up to 2 years to germinate), half-ripe cuttings in July, hardwood cuttings in early autumn, division of suckers, or layering (about 12 months).

Pollination

Hermaphrodite, bee-pollinated, self-compatible.

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.