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Alpine rose

Rosa pendulina

Also called Mountain Rose

Alpine rose
Photo: Boris Gaberšček, CC BY 2.5 si

Rosa pendulina, the Alpine or mountain rose, is a climbing or rambling wild rose from European mountains, grown for its early, fragrant deep pink flowers and few thorns. It prefers cool, moist, partly shaded sites such as stream banks and forest edges.

Family
Rosaceae (Rose family)
Grows as
Shrub, Climber
Light
Part shade
Water
Keep soil evenly moist, especially in dry spells, without waterlogging.
Soil
Moist, well-drained, humus-rich loam.
Temperature
Hardy to USDA Zone 4a; tolerates severe winter cold.
How easy
Easy
Native range
Europe to Kazakhstan
Climate
temperate

About

Rosa pendulina, (syn. Rosa alpina), the Alpine rose or mountain rose, is a species of wild rose found in the mountains of central and southern Europe. It appears to have survived in glacial refugia in the Alps and Carpathians, and spread out from there. A climbing shrub with deep pink flowers and relatively few thorns, it has had a history of cultivation as an ornamental plant.

How to grow it

Often called by its synonym Rosa alpina, the Alpine rose has been in cultivation for hundreds of years (c. 1683), with many varieties that are practically forgotten today. It has contributed genetically to an unknown, but large, number of extant rose cultivars. It flowers early, has a pleasing, strong fragrance, and is nearly thornless, all desirable traits for rose breeders. An undesirable trait is that it has weak pedicels supporting the flowers, which leads to the pendulous habit of the fruits. It is hardy to USDA Zone 4a.

Where it grows

It prefers to grow in relatively warmer, shadier, and wetter areas alongside streams, in openings in forests, or on rock piles, between 350 and 2,500 m above sea level.

Other Rosa plants

Prickly rose · White rose of York · Prairie rose · Field-rose · Banksian Rose · Smooth rose · Macartney rose · California wildrose · Dog rose · Carolina rose · Chinese rose · Amur rose

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Rosa pendulina by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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