Virginia rose

Photo: Alvesgaspar — CC BY-SA 3.0 · source

Survives zone 3 through 8

Harvest calendar

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

One of the better roses for eastern North American gardens generally, not just for the hips — foliage turns purple to red-orange to yellow in fall, unusually good color for the genus. Also salt-tolerant enough for coastal planting. ⚠ 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 3–8

Habit

Shrub

Edible part

Fruit

Ripens

Sept–Oct

Mature size

Fast-growing, 1.2–1.8 m (4–6 ft)

Light

Full sun to part shade

Soil pH

5.5–7.5 (mildly acid to mildly alkaline)

Environment

Temperate

Native range

Southern Ontario and Newfoundland/Nova Scotia south to Virginia and North Carolina, west to Alabama, Tennessee and Missouri.

Status

Wild

Years to fruit

2–3 yrs

Growth speed

Rapid

Spacing

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

Leaf shape

Pinnately compound, 7–9 glossy green leaflets, 2.5–6 cm long

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

Bright red hips, rich in vitamin C, persisting into winter

Propagation

Hardwood cuttings in autumn, or lift and sever a rooted sucker — the quickest route, since the species suckers freely. Seed needs cleaning from the hip and a long cold stratification, often over two winters.

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.