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Q & A
Q. Why do some of my roses simply wither while some blooms morph into rose hips?
A. The hip is the fruit of the rose; it has a structure that swells with achenes, or seeds, when the flower is pollinated, said Sarah Owens, curator of the Cranford Rose Garden at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
“Most roses will set hips in an attempt to reproduce if conditions are right and pollinators are present,” she said.
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Some roses are better at hip production than others, Ms. Owens said. Many species, like Rosa canina, Rosa virginiana and Rosa moyesii, are grown for the ornamental or medicinal value of their hips alone. The hips are particularly rich in vitamin C.
Environmental factors like drought or too much rain “will cause the hips to abort, resulting in unsightly withered brown formations,” Ms. Owens said.
Some blooms are so thick with petals that the pollinator cannot gain access to the reproductive organs, the stamens and pistil. Or in wet weather, the bud may not open fully and reveal its center to the pollinator.
In many gardens, particularly those that have repeat-flowering roses, “it’s a good idea to dead-head so that the plant puts energy into flower production rather than setting hip,” Ms. Owens said. “This practice should cease in late September in the Northeast if hips are desired, for ornamental or other purposes, for the winter months.” C. CLAIBORNE RAY
Readers may submit questions by mail to Question, Science Times, The New York Times, 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10018, or by e-mail to question@nytimes.com.
A version of this article appears in print on , Section
D
, Page
2
of the New York edition
with the headline:
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