Blanc Double de Coubert is a Hybrid rugosa, with Alba behind it.
It apparently produces very few hips (and I don't think it's self-cleaning).

Try R. rugosa alba. It produces big gorgeous white single blooms, and makes big shiny orange hips. (And it is self-cleaning.)

Jeri

Here is a link that might be useful: R. rugosa alba at HMF

I agree, try white roadrunner, alba or snowdwarf if you want white rugosas with many hips. Personally I consider them superior to BD as BD grows slowly, blooms somewhat less and makes very veru few hips (like 2-3 per year, whereas the others are covered by hips).
Other non-white rugosas with many hips are foxy, rubra and scabrosa.

That's foxy right today: (sorry for the dirty fingers)
{{gwi:289591}}

And here you see them as they where in autumn :
{{gwi:289593}}

PS: I consider the hips of scabrosa to be the best: they are the largest, like 1inch in diameter, and so cherry-red they seem to have been lacquered.

If Blanc Double de Coubert is a hybrid between R. rugosa and an alba it may never produce hips. The albas have an unusual number of gene copies in their cells (an odd number), and I believe that means when they make hybrids with other rose species the resulting offspring are usually sterile, or very nearly so.

Both helpmefind and vintage gardens usually tell you when rugosas have hips (or if they don't). And you can always ask the supplier directly. A lot of the hybrid rugosas don't have hips. And a number of other classes do have them; spinssimias often have small, glossy black hips.

I have a 5-6 year old Blanc Double de Coubert, and it has never produced hips.

I'm not an expert on rugosas, but it was my understanding that if you deadhead, it will not form hips. I always deadhead to encourage more bloom. Maybe I've been engaging in unnecessary work, but I thought that was necessary if you want more bloom. I could be wrong, but you might try NOT deadheading and see if it produces hips as a result.

I will be interested to see if any rugosa experts show up and can clarify this issue for us.

Kate

dublinbay I do not consider myself an expert, I just grow many rugosas and can tell what I do. I deadhead them until august to incentivate more bloom, then I stop deadheading so they can form hips. From august to october there are hips and flowers at the same time, this way, and from november only hips.
If you leave the hips in may-june-july, the plant will put its energy into making them mature, to make seeds, and no more to blooming as for the plant blooming is just a mean to an end, and the end is making seeds.

Catsrose: sure, rugosas are not the only roses to make hips! rosa canina, chinensis minima (I bought it 2 days ago as I saw it full with tiny shiny hips), Glauca, Moyesii, Pendulina, the wonderful Roxburghii, etc.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:289589}}

The single flowered version of R. roxburghii makes hips with seeds; the full flowered doubles don't for me or for many folks I know (I can't even find ovules in the receptacles.

If a rose doesn't make fertilized seeds, the hips are going to drop off at their abscission layers. Those don't really need our help in dropping hips for rebloom. Likewishe once bloomers don't need to be deadheaded unless we're looking for work or can't abide the look of hips about to drop.

Another way to check for 'making hips' is go to helpmefind and see if the rose was the female parent of any offspring.

Many thanks to all! Clearly I didn't do my homework before I purchased the Blanc de Coubert. I did try dublinbay's suggestion of not deadheading, but that just left me with some ugly looking bushes during the summer, and still no hips. :-) I appreciate all the suggestions of alternatives.

Nil