Kate Morgan writes
I have a wonderful hedging rose in flower at the moment, the smell is
amazing. A friend asked me what it was called and I had to hide my
ignorance by diving into the border to find the label, the name on the
label says it is Rosa Rugosa Japanese Rose, the picture shows a single
rose but mine is not a single by any stretch of the imagination, the
hips will be there later, small spiky thorns are there but the flower
is different, I need educating I think. I must switch off the p.c. as
we are having a belting thunderstorm here and power cuts, better be
safe than sorry

Rosa rugosa is the wild species, and there has been a lot of breeding to
produce different garden varieties, some of which are double. As far as
I know, all the rugosa varieties are either white or deep pink. The easy
characteristic, though, is the 'rugose' leaves - sort of all crinkled up
rather than smooth and shiny like most roses.
--
Kay