Roses That Produce Hips

Colorful rose hips attract birds.

While roses are grown throughout the world for their flowers, rose hips extend the seasonal visual display into the fall and winter. The fruit of a rose is called a rose hip or rose haw. Gardeners grow hips for seed propagation, for drawing birds to the garden or for making teas, syrups or jams. Hips are produced by most roses to some extent and by others most abundantly.

Shrub Roses

Rose hips provide garden color in the early autumn.

Some pink shrub roses that reliably produce hips are Ballerina, a pink hybrid musk with single pink-and-white blend blossoms. Heritage is a pink David Austin rose. Carefree Beauty, a cold-tolerant Buck Rose and Belinda's Dream are both Earth-Kind roses, which have been determined by the Texas AgriLife Extension to require minimal care. Pink Carefree Wonder is a disease-resistant shrub. Yellow and creams are Golden Unicorn and Prairie Star, both Buck Roses. Graham Thomas is a yellow David Austin rose. Buff Beauty is an apricot/yellow blend. The easy-to-grow red Knock Out also produces hips. Know your U.S. Department of Agriculture Plant Hardiness Zone to assure local suitability for various roses.

Floribunda and Miniature Roses

Rose hips provide winter interest in the garden.

Floribunda roses produce flowers in clusters throughout the season. These floribundas also produce hips to extend the season. Betty Boop is a yellow, red and white blend fragrant floribunda. Brilliant Pink Iceberg is a pink and white rose. Fragrant Chuckles is a bright-pink, single pink rose. White Meidiland or Red Meidiland are miniature roses. White Meidiland grows only 2 feet high but spreads to up to 5 feet, making it a good groundcover. Red Meidiland grows 5 or 6 feet high and wide.

Climbing Roses

Brightly colored rose hips are harvested for propagating rose seedlings or preparing recipes.

Single white Cherokee Rose is a vigorous grower with a strong fragrance, lots of thorns and decorative hips. White Jeanne D'Arc, a shorter climber at 5 to 8 feet, is a repeat bloomer with a strong fragrance. Altissimo has a red, single flower and is a vigorous grower to 10 feet. Red Dortmund is cold tolerant with single, slightly ruffled blooms. Pink Aloha is similar in growth habit to Altissimo and is fragrant. The climbing China rose Old Blush is pink. It will grow 12 to 20 feet and is fragrant. China roses are recommended for warmer regions.

Roses for Hedges and Mass Plantings

Wild roses produce an abundance of hips.

Rosa Rugosa pink and white Rosa Rugosa Alba originated in Japan. Both are very fragrant and tolerate less than ideal conditions. Rosa Rugosa is somewhat taller than the Rosa Rugosa Alba. Fragrant Robusta is a single red rose with lots of prickles may be planted as a security barrier as well as a hip producer. Countryman is a vigorous pink cold-tolerant Buck Rose. Summer Wind is also a Buck rose. It's a single pink-orange blend with a spicy clove fragrance and a height of up to 3 feet. The Knock Out shrub rose is also common as a hedge.

References

• Sunset: Buy Roses in Fall For Their Beautiful Fruit; Jim McCausland
• AgriLife Extension Texas A&M; Earth-Kind Roses
• University of Vermont Extension; Rose Hips; Contact: Leonard Perry, Ph.D.
• "Rose Magazine"; Rugosa Roses; Mark Whitelaw
• University of Minnesota Extension; Selecting hardy Roses for Northern Cliamtes; Vera Krischik, et al.; 2009

Resources

• David Austin Roses: Rose for Hips - Shrubs
• The Antique Rose Emporium: Attractive Hips
• Mother Earth News; Mother's Herb Garden Rose Hips; January/February 1981
• The United States National Arboretum: USDA Plant hardiness Zone Map
• Help Me Find: Roses