Japanese rose

The rugosa rose is fully hardy and needs no frost protection in the Central European lowlands. Simply leave it standing and, in late winter before new growth, cut back dead or too dense shoots for rejuvenation. You can leave the rose hips hanging over winter (food for birds); only in a very wind-exposed spot does a loosely propped bundle of brushwood help newly planted specimens as a windbreak in their first winter.

You propagate the rugosa rose most easily via its root suckers: in autumn or early spring before growth starts, separate a strong sucker from the mother plant with a spade; it has often already formed roots of its own. After cutting it off, let it keep growing in place for a few more weeks so that it forms more roots before you dig it up and move it. For cuttings, in early summer (at the first flowering or shortly after) take healthy shoots of the current year about 20 cm long, remove the lower leaves and insert them deep in moist, sandy soil; keep the humidity permanently high. Layering also works well: in late summer, bend a long, flexible shoot into a shallow trench in the soil, lightly wound the bark at the buried spot, fix it and cover it with soil; after about a year you can separate the rooted new shrub. Sowing from the rose hips is possible but laborious: the seeds are cold-stratification seeds and after the autumn harvest need a cold period of several weeks to several months in moist sand in the fridge before you sow them in spring; expect one to two years to the first flowering. Note: only vegetatively propagated specimens (suckers, cuttings, layers) come true to type; seedlings can differ slightly in growth, colour and shape.