The original species rugosas had extraordinary crinkled and rough leaves. It was this quality that appeared to give them their disease resistance. As natives of Japan, Korea, Northern China and Siberia, they tolerated cold, maritime conditions. This makes them ideal candidates for seaside plantings, where they will grow happily in sand, and are impervious to salt spray. The autumn foliage display is always spectacular.
Blooms range from white through pink to reds and even yellow.
The species plants had but five petals, but later breeding in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries gave us more double, many-petalled forms. With few exceptions, rugosas are free-flowering and powerfully fragrant. In nature, plants flower to attract bees for pollination, then set their seed and go to sleep. They bloom profusely, set their great hips, then bloom again and again. It is quite normal for a Rugosa to bloom for eight months of the year, carrying hips and flowers as it goes.