Rosa glauca

Rosa glauca (formerly R. rubrifolia)

We planted three of these roses in the garden a couple of decades ago. One didn’t last long, crowded out by encroaching dogwoods. Two are still with us but overshadowed and so the leaves and flowers are quite high on bare stems. This chap was planted in the front by an ambitious squirrel and after several years of slow growth is now making a good living.

The flowers come only once and last a bare week but are quite gorgeous. The seed-containing hips are apparently some of the biggest of any rose and a red/orange delight in the fall. really though the rose is grown for its beautiful foliage. It is native to the mountains of central and southern Europe, from Spanish Pyrenees east to Bulgaria, and north to Germany and Poland.