White Japanese Ramanas Rose Hedging

• Variety: White Ramanas Rose, the white Japanese Rose for a coastal hedge
• Latin name: Rosa rugosa 'Alba'
• Sold as: Bareroot hedge plants, 40/60 and 60/80cm tall
• Hedge height: Up to about 2m
• Flowers: Single, pure white from blush-pink buds, 9cm wide, fragrant, from summer into autumn
• Hips: Large and scarlet, from late summer
• Leaves: Deciduous. Glossy, wrinkled and bright green, yellow in autumn
• Thorns: Yes, very
• Position: Full sun or partial shade. Exposed or sheltered
• Soil: Most soils. Famously good on sand and by the sea
• Native: No. From north-east Asia. For gardens and hedges only, not for planting in the wild
• Wildlife: RHS Plants for Pollinators
• Hardiness: H7, hardy in the severest British winter
• Delivered: Bareroot, November to April. Collection from Castle Cary also available

White Ramanas is the Rose hedge that flowers twice over: fragrant, single white flowers from summer into autumn, with big scarlet hips ripening beside the late blooms. It is very thorny, rated H7, happy in sand and salt wind, and on the RHS Plants for Pollinators list. It is a garden plant, not a native.

White Japanese Ramanas Rose Hedging

Rugosa roses aren't native and are a Schedule 9 plant: only for garden use. You can buy them, plant them and hedge with them freely. What the law forbids is planting them, or allowing them to spread, in the wild, so keep them in the garden or the hedge.
Before they were added to the schedule in 2010, they were widely recommended for sandy and rocky coastal gardens where they perform almost as well as Gorse, but don't seed around as much.

Rosa rugosa Alba is an ideal rose for hedging or wildlife gardens. Its lovely white, single blooms, up to 9cm wide, have silky, wrinkled petals and golden-yellow stamens in summer, followed by large, orange-red hips in late summer-autumn.
It's "aggressively informal", for a tidier plant that also works well as a hedge browse the larger sized shrub roses.

White Ramanas is often mixed with Red Ramanas. Flowers have a lovely strong, old-rose fragrance and the leaves are glossy, lush and healthy-looking. For a rose with simple flowers, it has many names, which can often lead to confusion.

It's an exceptionally tough plant and disease resistant, growing in temperatures well below -20C in its home in north-eastern Asia, often in pure sand on dunes. It has very thorny, densely-packed stems, ideal for creating impenetrable hedges, especially on poor soil in coastal areas. Rugosas are extremely hardy and disease resistant, and will thrive in poor sandy soils and coastal areas, even growing on sand dunes. They're usually very thorny; ideal for creating impenetrable hedges on our poor, salt-laden seaside soils. Salt-laden winds aren't a problem either. It'll also tolerate partial shade and exposed sites.

Garden Design Ideas

If you want a hedge to attract wildlife, Rosa rugosa Alba is an ideal choice, growing up to about 2 metres high. It can be interplanted with the red Rugosa rose for more colour. To increase the appeal to bees, birds, small mammals and other pollinators, add hawthorn and blackthorn. This is also easier to keep in trim if you need to cut it back.

Rosa rugosa Alba looks great in an informal garden or seaside cottage garden setting: in a large border, single plants can be used but make sure the thorns are well away from path edges or other plants with delicate, large leaves, or they'll be ruined. If the hips last into late autumn/early winter, depending on how hungry your garden animals are, they look great against the dull copper/brown of winter beech leaves.

History & Trivia

Native to north-eastern China, Japan, Korea and south-eastern Siberia, where it grows in very harsh climates on the coast, often on sand dunes, which, along with its thorns, makes it such a tough hedging plant.

Rosa rugosa Alba, the white Japanese Ramanas rose, and in some old books "the white wrinkled rose", as 'rugosa' means wrinkled. In Japan, they're Shore Pears.

Planting Companions

The classic partner is the Red Ramanas linked above, planted alternately. For structure in a long run, the usual recipe is a Hawthorn or Blackthorn every third or fourth plant. For a low, native Rose on the same poor, sandy ground, use Scotch Rose, and see the rest of our coastal hedging. Dust the roots with Rootgrow as you plant.

Why Ashridge for Hedging?

Hedging is not a sideline here: your White Ramanas Rose is grown for us as hedging by specialist growers. Bareroot plants are lifted to order while dormant and guaranteed for 12 months. Ashridge has sold plants since 1949 and is a Which? Best Plant Supplier 2025.

Frequently Asked Questions

How tall does a Rosa rugosa hedge grow?

Up to about 2 metres, within a few years.

Does it flower more than once?

Yes. It flowers from summer into autumn, which no native hedging Rose does, and carries flowers and hips together late in the season.

Is it legal to plant Rosa rugosa?

In a garden or a managed hedge, yes, and it is legal to buy and sell. It is listed on Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, which makes it an offence to plant it, or let it spread, in the wild. The rules differ in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Will it grow by the sea?

Yes. It is famously good on pure sand and in salt wind, and it is rated H7.

When do you prune it?

In late winter or early spring. Take out dead or crowded wood and any suckers you do not want. An overgrown plant can be cut to the ground to renew it.

Does it spread?

Yes. It is vigorous and it suckers, so take the suckers out when you prune if you want a tidy line.

When are the plants delivered?

Bareroot only, from November to April, while the plants are dormant. You can order at any time of year and your plants are lifted and sent once the season opens.