Description
If you garden somewhere genuinely cold, this is the rugosa to plant. Rosa rugosa is hardy to Zone 3 and rated through Zone 2 in sheltered sites, which puts it further north than almost any other rose, and it still makes a full 4 to 6 foot shrub in full sun. It runs to Zone 7 at the warm end and needs a season to root in before it takes off.
The flowers are single and clear pink, five petals around gold stamens, with a strong old-rose fragrance and a long repeat from late spring into fall. The hips that follow are large and tomato-red, among the richest sources of vitamin C in any fruit, which is why rugosa hips end up in syrups and teas. The birds usually get to them first.
The leaves are the deeply grooved kind the species is named for, dark green through the season and clear yellow in fall, and they stay clean without a spray program while nearby hybrid teas defoliate.
Rugosa rose suckers, which is exactly what you want on a bank or a hedge line and a nuisance in a formal bed, so choose the site with that in mind. The canes are densely prickled and make a serious barrier planting. Salt, wind, and pure sand do not trouble it.
