Rosa rubiginosa 'Sweet Briar'

[Ex. Co. Durham, 30m., England]

Rosaceae: A compact hedgerow shrub to 3m, upright stems bear short, curved thorns, bristles and glands. Flowers are 2-3cm across, pink; in clusters of up to 3, blooming from June-July, the hips are ovoid, red with persisting sepals, the leaves have a sweet smell when bruised. Native to Britain but only locally common. Europe, including Britain, from Scandanavia south and east to Spain, the Caucasus and Himalayas.

USES:

The Fruit can be cooked and used in making jellies etc., they taste is best after been frosted, but be sure to remove the seed hairs, as these hairs can cause irritation to the mouth and digestive tract if ingested. A pleasant tasting fruity-flavoured tea is made from the fruit, it is rich in vitamin C, and the seeds are said to be a good source of vitamin E.

The flowers and hips are aperient, astringent and stomachic, an infusion of dried rose petals can be used to treat headaches and dizziness, with honey added the infusion is used as a heart and nerve tonic and a blood purifier, a decoction of the petals is used to treat mouth sores. The seed is rich in vitamin E and an oil extracted from the seed is used externally in the treatment of burns, scars and wrinkles, the fruit of many members of this genus is a very rich source of vitamins and minerals, especially in vitamins A, C and E, flavonoids and other bio-active compounds. It is also a fairly good source of essential fatty acids, which is fairly unusual for a fruit. It is being investigated as a food that is capable of reducing the incidence of cancer and also as a means of halting or reversing the growth of cancers.

GROWING INFORMATION:

Sweet briar seeds have a deep dormancy within them, this requires a degree of patience to overcome and it is usually quite easy to get high levels of germination if the correct methods are followed.

First prepare a free draining substrate into which the seeds are to be mixed, this can be a 50/50 mixture of compost and sharp sand, or perlite, vermiculite. The chosen substrate needs to be moist (but not wet), if you can squeeze water out of it with your hand it is too wet and your seeds may drown and die. Mix the seeds into the substrate, making sure that there is enough volume of material to keep the seeds separated. Place the seed mixture into a clear plastic bag (freezer bags, especially zip-lock bags are very useful for this -provided a little gap is left in the seal for air exchange) If it is not a zip-lock type bag it needs to be loosely tied. Then write the date on the bag so that you know when the pre-treatment was started.

The seeds of this species require a cold period to break the dormancy that is within the seeds. This dormancy is there to prevent the seed from germinating during the autumn and winter when conditions outside would be unsuitable for growth. The breaking of this is easily achieved by placing the prepared bag of seeds in the fridge at (4°C) for a period of between 12 and 16 weeks. During this time make sure that the pre-treatment medium does not dry out at any stage or it will be ineffective!

It is quite possible for the seeds to germinate in the bag at these temperatures when they are ready to do so, if they do, just remove them from the bag and carefully plant them up. When the period of pre-treatment has finished the seed should be ready to be planted. Small quantities can be sown in pots or seed trays filled with a good quality compost and cover them with a thin layer of compost no more than 1cm deep. For larger quantities it is easiest to sow the seeds in a well prepared seedbed outdoors once the pre-treatment has finished and wait for the seedlings to appear.

It has also been found that fluctuating pre-treatment temperatures that mimic the natural cycle can give the best germination results and I have myself had excellent results by keeping the mixed seeds in a cold shed through the winter for the cold stage of their pre-treatment and allowing the temperature to fluctuate naturally. Un-germinated seeds can have the cold pre-treatment process repeated again to enable more seeds to germinate.

Do not expose newly sown seeds to high temperatures (above 25°C). Keep the seedlings well-watered and weed free. Growth in the first year is usually between 15 and 30cm depending on the time of germination and cultural techniques and developing seedlings are usually trouble free. Allow them to grow for 1 or 2 years before planting them in a permanent position.

HARVESTED: 2020

 

APPROX. 45+ SEEDS