SEEDS FOR LUXEMBOURG

Wild roses
(Rosa canina / Rosa corymbifera / Rosa rubiginosa / Rosa tormentosa)

Wild roses

Rosa canina; Rosa corymbifera; Rosa rubiginosa; Rosa tormentosa

Why we chose it for Luxembourg

Wild roses, with their many flowers and fruits, offer food to many species. More than 100 insects, 27 birds and 19 mammal species have been counted.

The fruit (hip) is edible and contains many vitamins, especially vitamin C. You can use them to make jam or make a lovely infusion with dried hips.

The fine hairs around the seeds inside the fruit provide a natural itching powder used by children to play jokes on their friends. The many different species of wild roses are not easy to distinguish and like to hybridise among themselves. Most species are still quite common, some, like the sweet briar rose and the harsh downy-rose only occur in nutrient-poor, dry and warm places.

Quick Facts:

Plant type
Perennial shrub

Plant height:
3-5 m.

Growing conditions
Clay, loam chalk or sand 

Location
Outdoor

Season to flower
Spring, summer

Additional information

Rosa canina L.

The fragrant pale rose or white flowers of the Dog Rose are in clusters of 2 to 5 flowers. The thorns of the main branches are crooked. The shrub reaches a height of 3 to 5 m. The sepals fall off rapidly after flowering. The ovoid hips ripen late and are orange-red.

Rosa corymbifera Borkh.

This rose looks very similar to the Dog Rose, but it has hairy leaf stalks and leaves. Especially on the underside, the leaves are distinctly hairy at least along the main veins.

Rosa rubiginosa L.

The Sweet Briar Rose’s flowers often have a darker pink color and are slightly smaller than those of the dog rose. The many rust-colored glands on the underside and edges of the leaflets as well as on the sepals are characteristic for this species. The leaves have a strong smell of green apples when crumpled. The pedicel of the hips and the hips themselves are covered with stalked glands. The sepals remain erect on the fruit for a long time.

Rosa tomentosa Smith

The flowers of the Harsh Downy-Rose are pale, whitish, its thorns are almost straight. This species stands out due to the felt-like hairiness of the leaves both underneath and on the top. Both the hip stalks and the hips are covered with stalked glands.

How to plant

  1. Sow the seeds outside (approximately 0.5 cm deep) in a flowerpot with a mixture of soil and sand.
  2. Put the pot in a place where it will not easily dry out (in the shade of a hedge or along the north side of a building.
  3. In dry periods, water occasionally.

Wild rose seeds often only germinate in the second year, so please be patient. Once germinated, you can keep the young plants in the pot for some time until they are strong enough to be planted in the garden. You can also sow the seeds directly into the ground.

SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGE

We invite you to join us in planting the seed of hope: deepen your relationship with nature, protect and wonder at our vast Earth.

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