Dog rose
Sources last read 14 September 2026.
Forgiving Among the more tolerant plants here.
Also called bird briar, briar rose, buckieberries, canker, canker flower, canker rose, cankerberry, cat whin, choop tree, common brier, dog briar, dog brier, hep briar, hep rose, hep tree, rhosyn gwyllt and wild rose.
Toxicity is partly unassessed
What the sources say about its care
Sources file this plant under other names: Rosa Species (ASPCA, genus only). Citations below point at the name its source uses.
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shadeRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Water
- Moist but well-drained or Well-drainedRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Humidity
No source read publishes a humidity figure for any plant on this site. What follows is general guidance for foliage plants.
ASHRAE recommends indoor relative humidity between 30% and 60% 30–60%Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026- Temperature
How cold this tolerates, not what it prefers. No source read for this site publishes a preferred range for a plant indoors.
H7 — below -20°C -20 °CRHS · read 13 September 2026- Soil
- Chalk, Clay, Loam, Sand; pH Acid or Alkaline or NeutralRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Toxic to cats
- Listed as non-toxicASPCA names the genus (Rosa Species), not the species.ASPCA, filed as Rosa Species · read 13 September 2026
- Toxic to dogs
- Listed as non-toxicASPCA names the genus (Rosa Species), not the species.ASPCA, filed as Rosa Species · read 13 September 2026
- Harmful to people
- No harm is recorded, only a note: the fruit is ornamental and should not be eaten. Use gloves and protective gear when handling it.RHS · read 13 September 2026
How it usually goes wrong
- Edges of the leaves brown while the middle stays sound
The dog rose browns at the very tips first, and the brown line creeps back along the edges over weeks. The tissue is dry and brittle, not soft.
Penn State Extension notes that most indoor plants benefit from more humidity than a home heated in winter provides. The leaf edge, furthest from the veins, is where the shortfall shows. That applies while it is grown indoors; its RHS rating of H7 describes a plant that also grows outside, where the air is seldom that dry.
Telling it apart: Look at the pot rim and the soil surface. A white crust points at a build-up from tap water or feed rather than at the air. Penn State also reports misting and pebble trays do little to the humidity around a plant.
Penn State ExtensionDog rose brown leaf tips and edges: causes- Leaves but no flowers
The dog rose flowered well at first, then less each season, while its leaves stayed healthy and new stems grew longer.
Its source places it in full sun, partial shade. Flowers cost more than leaves, and a plant kept darker than that keeps growing leaves while it builds few buds or none.
Telling it apart: The spacing of the newest leaves. Stretched growth means the light is short; normal spacing points at timing or feeding.
RHSDiagnose no flowers or dropped buds on this Dog rose- Soft, sagging leaves low on the plant in soil that has not dried
A sour smell from the compost is common on a dog rose, and the lowest leaves on each stem come away when pulled. The surface may look dry while everything beneath it is not.
A pot that does not dry between waterings keeps the roots in water rather than in damp soil, and the leaves above them yellow for want of what those roots can no longer send up.
Telling it apart: Two inches down with a finger. Above the soil, drowning and thirst look the same; below it they are opposites.
RHSDiagnose drooping on this Dog rose- Whitened areas where the sun falls longest
Upper surfaces lose colour while the undersides stay green, and nothing below the top of the plant is touched.
Sun through a window on a still day heats a leaf far above the air around it. Its source describes full sun, partial shade; the glass adds the heat that does the damage.
Telling it apart: The edge of the damage. Scorch has a sharp boundary; rot and infection have a soft, spreading one.
RHSDiagnose leaf drop on this Dog rose
Not sure which it is? Ask the diagnosis questions for Dog rose.
Routine care
- Feeding
- For the best flowers, give a balanced fertiliser and a mulch at the end of winter or in early spring.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Propagation
- Root softwood cuttings during early to mid spring, take hardwood ones between late summer and autumn, or chip bud in summer; seed is another option. Species roses grow from seed but require stratification, and germination can take two seasons.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pruning
- Follow pruning group 20 (roses).RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pests and diseases
- Can be troubled by caterpillars, scale insects, aphids, glasshouse red spider mite, rose leafhopper, rose leaf-rolling sawfly, rose slugworm sawfly and large rose sawfly; rabbits and deer can cause damage. Diseases: rose rust, rose black spot, rose powdery mildew, rose dieback, replant disease and occasionally honey fungus; the disorder rose blindness can also occur.RHS · read 13 September 2026
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Photographs
About the plant
Rosa canina, the dog rose, is a variable climbing, wild rose species native to Europe, northwest Africa, and western Asia.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · read 13 September 2026
- Native range
- Madeira, NW. Africa, Europe to C. Asia and PakistanWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026Europe, N Africa, SW AsiaRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Climate
- temperateWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- Growth form
- Spreading branched (deciduous)RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Size
- Height 2.5-4 metres; spread 1.5-2.5 metres after 5–10 yearsRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Flowering
- Flowers pink in summer; white in summerRHS · read 13 September 2026
Common problems with Dog rose
Plants with similar care
Blue passion flowerA thin dry rim that crumbles between the fingers
Bush lilyDry, curled edges on leaves near a heater
English lavenderBuds form and fall before they open
Flaming KatyA thin dry rim that crumbles between the fingers
Hardy fuchsiaBrown, papery patches on the leaves nearest the glass
HyacinthFlowering stops while the foliage carries on
Sources
- ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Wikipedia · read 13 September 2026
What this does not cover
The figures above are what published sources say, not measurements of the plant in your room. They say nothing about your pot size, your water, the season, or how far from the glass the plant stands, and those decide more than any figure here does.
Humidity has no species figure because no source read for this site publishes one, and the only temperature published for this plant is a cold floor. The simulator fills those gaps with general figures for its kind of plant, marked as general and listed on how we read sources. Where a toxicity row says the plant was not assessed, that is the absence of a finding and not a finding of safety.
If something is already wrong, the diagnosis tool asks about the soil, the window and the watering, which is where the answer usually is.