Rugosa rose
Rosa rugosa · Rosaceae
A very thorny, very tough rose with wrinkled, disease-free leaves, large, clove-scented flowers in magenta-pink or white all summer, and hips the size of cherry tomatoes.
- Size
- 5 ft tall, 5 ft wide
- Zones
- 2 to 7
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Early June to mid September
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Anchor
A bed built around rugosa rose
The planner designed this bed around rugosa rose when this page was made: a 16 × 8 ft (4.9 × 2.4 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 715 that suit those conditions and its dry soil, and says below why rugosa rose stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Rugosa rose × 1, pink
- 2 Candytuft × 7, white
- 3 Sedum 'Lidakense' × 24, pink
- 4 Tatarian aster 'Jindai' × 4, purple
- 5 Southernwood × 3, grey-green leaves
- 6 English lavender 'Hidcote' × 3, purple
- 7 Wild lupine × 11, blue
- 8 Easter lily × 3, white
- 9 Allium 'Globemaster' × 3, purple
- 10 Star of Persia × 5, purple
Why this plant
- The bed's only structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down, and it is the only one here.
- The only open bowls. The others are dense clusters, daisies, spires and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 5 ft it is the tallest plant here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to Tatarian aster 'Jindai' (4 ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A shrub is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- In flower for 16 weeks. From early June to mid September.
- Fills a gap. For three of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 8 of the 10 groups (80%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The flowers stay on the cool side of the palette: pink, purple, blue and white. Neither end outweighs the other: the visual weight is split 47 to 53, left to right.
The planner's own design check: 14 Excellent, 2 Good, 1 Satisfactory. It flags one thing to watch: Easter lily is highly poisonous to cats. Rugosa rose spreads aggressively.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where rugosa rose goes in a border
At 5 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is tall (4 to 5 ft).
Its job: anchor. A shrub that gives the bed permanent structure. Planted singly, as soon as the front edge is laid; everything else is arranged around it.
It thrives on salt, wind, sand and neglect, and should never be sprayed or fed. It suckers into thickets and has taken over dunes in New England, so keep it away from beaches.
- Seaside gardens and sand
- Hedges in cold climates
- Hips and autumn colour
What to plant with rugosa rose
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Northern bayberry: its dark green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; happy in the same dry soil.
- Little bluestem: its blue-green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; low enough (3 ft) to stand in front of it; happy in the same dry soil.
- Catmint 'Walker's Low': in flower together for 15 weeks, from early June; spires rising out of its mound; low enough (24 in) to stand in front of it.
Questions about rugosa rose
Does rugosa rose need sun or shade?
Rugosa rose grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants dry, sharply drained soil, on the lean side, with no feeding, and little watering once settled. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does rugosa rose grow in?
USDA zones 2 to 7. It is hardy to zone 2, which means it survives winter nights down to about −40 °F (−40 °C).
Above zone 7 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does rugosa rose flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early June to mid September. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 3 | Mid June to mid September |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Mid June to mid September |
| Zone 5 | Early June to mid September |
| Zone 6 | Early June to mid September |
| Zone 7 | Late May to mid September |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should rugosa rose be planted?
4 ft (120 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 5 ft (150 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 5 ft (150 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many rugosa rose plants do I need?
Usually one. At 4 ft (120 cm) across, it is a plant you place, not one you mass. For a hedge or screen, set them 4 ft apart: three plants for a 10 ft run.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is rugosa rose poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension and the ASPCA.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat rugosa rose?
They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.
Will rugosa rose spread?
It spreads sideways, by runners or roots; the risk of it taking over is high. Suckers strongly into dense, thorny thickets, and birds spread the seed. It has naturalised on beaches and dunes in New England, where it is listed as invasive in places.
What flowers after rugosa rose?
Rugosa rose is over by mid September. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Montauk daisy: from mid September to late October, 3 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Tatarian aster 'Jindai': from early October to early November, 4 ft tall.
What does rugosa rose look like in winter?
Rugosa rose drops its leaves and stands as bare branches. That is when to see its shape, and to prune it if it needs pruning.
Is rugosa rose good for bees and butterflies?
Rugosa rose is visited by songbirds.
More Rosa
- Carolina rose Rosa carolina
- English rose Rosa (English shrub roses)
- English rose 'Gertrude Jekyll' Rosa 'Ausbord' (Gertrude Jekyll)
- English rose 'Graham Thomas' Rosa 'Ausmas' (Graham Thomas)
- Floribunda rose Rosa (Floribunda Group)
- Groundcover rose Rosa (Drift Group)
- Hybrid tea rose Rosa (Hybrid Tea Group)
- Hybrid tea rose 'Peace' Rosa 'Madame A. Meilland' (Peace)
- Redleaf rose Rosa glauca
- Rose 'Bonica' Rosa 'Meidomonac' (Bonica)
- Rose 'Carefree Beauty' Rosa 'Bucbi' (Carefree Beauty)
- Rose 'Double Knock Out' Rosa 'Radtko' (Double Knock Out)
- Rose 'Flower Carpet Pink' Rosa 'Noatraum' (Flower Carpet Pink)
- Rose 'Iceberg' Rosa 'Korbin' (Iceberg)
- Rose 'Julia Child' Rosa 'Wekvossutono' (Julia Child)
- Rose 'The Fairy' Rosa 'The Fairy'
- Rugosa rose 'Blanc Double de Coubert' Rosa 'Blanc Double de Coubert'
- Rugosa rose 'Hansa' Rosa rugosa 'Hansa'
- Shrub rose 'Knock Out' Rosa 'Knock Out'
- Virginia rose Rosa virginiana
In these guides
- Salt-tolerant plants for roadsides and coasts
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Plants that feed garden birds
- Long-flowering plants: 12 weeks or more
- Plants for a white garden
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 5 ft (150 cm) tall, 5 ft (150 cm) wide
- Plant
- 4 ft (120 cm) apart
- Height class
- Tall (4 to 5 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Early June to mid September; open bowls; pink, white
- Leaves
- Medium texture, deciduous; dark green
- Shape
- Rounded, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 2 to 7
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Lean, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Rosaceae
- Comes from
- Eastern Russia, Korea, Japan, and Northern China
- Attracts
- Songbirds
- Stands up to
- Drought, salt, poor soil
Checked against NC State Extension and ASPCA poison lists. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.