British Native Trees
and Shrubs

Dog-Rose Rosa canina (Rosaceae)

Unkempt about those hedges blows,
An English unofficial rose;

The Old Vicarage, Grantchester
Rupert Brooke (1887-1915)

Its gracefully arching stems, sturdy prickles and scented, shell-pink flowers combine to give the dog-rose qualities of vigour and delicacy which have inspired English poets for centuries. The beautiful deciduous suckering shrub, the largest of the English roses, has curved spines that enable it to catch on to surrounding shrubs for support and it can reach more than 3 m in height, more often up to 2 m. Each stalked leaf has two or three opposite pairs of usually hairless, oval or elliptic, toothed leaflets with a larger terminal leaflet. The fragrant, pale pink or white five-petalled flowers appear singly or in small groups in June or July, each up to 5 cm across, with numerous stamens around a central cluster of separate, hairy styles. Five narrow green sepals usually have a frill of side lobes. The glossy, scarlet, egg-shaped hips, rich in Vitamin C, do not fully ripen until October or November.

Dog-rose is most commonly found in hedgerows, scrub and woodlands on a wide range of soils throughout England up to 550 m.

It is a strongly growing plant that needs space. It makes a dense and decorative hedge or it can be grown over an existing hedge where a darker green background will set off the pink flowers and arching stems of the rose. It can be trained on a trellis or over an arbour or a decaying tree. It flourishes in full sun and may grow without flowering in shade. Dog-rose accepts most garden soils as long as they are not waterlogged or very dry. It is hardy and tolerates cutting back. Propagate as for field rose.

This plant is host to many insects, most notably gall-forming wasps which produce the balls of crimson "moss" called "Robin’s pin-cushions" on the leaf stalks and the smooth or spiked pea galls on the leaflets. The hips are eaten by blackbirds.

Page last updated - January 10, 2002  

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