The rose-hips of the dog rose, Rosa canina, continue to provide winter interest.
Our native dog rose is a familiar site in woodland and grassland, where it can scramble through neighbouring plants to reach 4m in height. The arching stems produce single flowers of sweetly-scented, deep-pink flowers. These are followed by ovoid, orange-red fruits, which are high in vitamin C and were traditionally used to make rosehip syrup. The hips also contain fine, irritant hairs which have been used to produce itching powder. In Shakespeare’s time this species was known as eglantine, a name also given to R. rubiginosa.