The potato or dune rose (so called because it was planted on dunes for a long time to protect against erosion) is one of the very robust and extremely undemanding representatives of the wild roses. Rosa rugosa originally comes from the northern regions of China, Japan and Korea and is now considered an invasive plant in many countries. The potato rose is very easy to propagate and also spreads extremely quickly through root runners.
How can the potato rose be successfully propagated?
The potato rose (Rosa rugosa) can be propagated by cutting off root runners, cuttings or sowing seeds. Root barriers should be used when planting to prevent uncontrolled growth.
Particularly easy: separate the runners and plant them
Rosa rugosa tends to self-propagate very strongly through root runners or rhizomes, which can of course also be used for targeted propagation. To do this, separate the runners from the mother plant using a spade and immediately replant them in their new location or in a special growing bed. Since the potato rose is very frost hardy, the young plant does not need a frost-free winter (€11.00 at Amazon). The best seasons for obtaining runners are both spring (before budding) and autumn.
Be sure to provide the potato rose with a root barrier when planting
However, said root runners can quickly become a nuisance, because the potato rose spreads very quickly from even the smallest root remnants and is also difficult to control. Even drastic cutting down to the ground several times cannot harm the plant. For this reason, you should definitely install root barriers when planting to avoid unpleasant surprises.
End of November: cut mature cuttings
Another vegetative and thus guaranteed pure type of propagation can be achieved using cuttings, which are ideally cut in mid to late November, before the first frost. These approximately 20 centimeter long cuttings are stored frost-free and cool in slightly moist sand over the winter and are not planted until the following spring. Only the top eye should be visible above the ground.
Stratification necessary: sow potato rose seeds
Propagation via seeds is usually quite easy, although the germination inhibition of the seeds must first be broken by a cold period before sowing. To do this, mix the seeds, which have previously been carefully cleaned of the pulp, with slightly damp sand and store the mixture - filled in a transparent plastic bag or screw-top jar - in the vegetable compartment of your refrigerator for about four weeks. You can then sow seeds, although you will need to be very patient: the seeds of the potato rose may take up to a year to germinate.
Tip
If you want to get larger quantities of seeds, you can also put the whole rose hips in a blender and remove the pulp from the seeds.
