Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Miracle on the Hudson make the most hips here. They are right near to each other so they are probably getting cross pollinated but who knows.

Last year, I saw squirrels running around with hips, burying them in my potted plants. I kinda forgot about it but then rose seedlings sprouted up. The naughty squirrels are rose propagators. It will be interesting to see what the blooms look like!

My season is pretty short so I dead head a lot to keep mine blooming as much as possible. However I do hybridize some each year as well. But there again those get harvested in the fall. I will say though that my favorite hips are on Golden Wings. They are always big, fat and bright orange when I harvest them.

I was literally *just* looking into hip producing roses this morning as I decided, to heck with it, I'm tearing out more grass to make more garden space. Ha ha. So far though I don't have any roses that make hips.

I love the glossy black hips on spinosissimas, but they set hips during the summer so at this point they are long gone -- eaten by something.

I have a lot of hips from James Galway. Its seeds also germinate very well. Helen

Sorry, I haven't particularly noticed the varieties, but there are still shrivelled hips on some roses. I share your appreciation for the non-floral charms of roses: fall color of deciduous varieties, and the near-black winter leaf hues of some Teas; hips, and canes. A favorite, one I've mentioned before, is Rosa gallica 'Splendens'. Its young canes are glaucous, with a purplish bloom, its foliage colors yellow-orange-red in fall, and it produces abundant glossy red hips shaped like tops: who could ask for more? The great variety of rose foliage, habit, hips, thorns, and even plant fragrance, is part of the charm of roses, once you begin exploring various classes.

Darlow's Enigma has decorative hips. They're very tiny, very red and in big bunches like a bouquet. In a good year, the entire bush is covered in red. They'd be beautiful in a wreath or other Christmas decoration. Instead of getting squishy or falling off, they turn shiny black before spring, and stay intact, which is also interesting.

I made the above bouquet for Carol (rosecanadian) toward the end of October. All but one of the hips are from Morden Sunrise, which usually sets the most hips in my garden. Nestled in the orange hips is a greenish one from Abbaye de Cluny. It doesn't look like it, but it is the size of a wee apple. I later made a Jack O' Lantern face on it to put in a little rose bouquet--really silly of me, and my super tidy daughter threw it away after a couple of days. Phooey. I wanted to save it. Diane

Flowers that’s exciting to read about Darlow’s Enigma. It was just planted in the spring and didn’t give any hips this year but I’m so excited for coming seasons.

It‘s located in a spot I see all winter so it will be nice to have something fragrant in summer and something interesting to look at in the cold.

I have some hips...but you can only see white at the moment.

Still pretty in it's own way.

In our subtropical (Florida) gardens, 'Dortmund' and 'Carefree Beauty' make unusually large numbers of attractive hips, which hang on for a long time. A good, ripe Carefree Beauty hip tastes rather like sweetened celery.

I pruned off a lot of my hips this year, so I can't give a complete list...but looking around the yard, here are a few that still have them:

Bourbon Queen

Mme Isaac Per.

Mme Ernst Calvat

Honorine de Brabant

Gloire de Guilan

Lady Hillingdon

General Jack

I also love the hips on 'Golden Wings' and "Darlow's Enigma" here. 'Lyda Rose' has large numbers of persistent, colorful hips, too, as does 'Apricot Glow' (very abundant, large, orange hips -- Brownell climber, 1936, apparently no longer in commerce in the U.S., but it should be!), 'Nastarana', and its sport 'Narrow Water'.

While at first they ignored them, the local squirrels eventually figured it out and now use rose hips as a winter food, so I don't get to enjoy them for as long as I once did.

Almost all of my (mostly older or antique) roses have lots of hips right now. I especially like the way they look on my old tea roses, which have lots of hips, and also new growth and/or new buds and blooms at the same time - they look lovely together.

Here are some of my notable surviving hips (warning: disturbing images!):

Soleil d'Or:

La Belle Sultane:

Scabrosa:

The rose I have that's known for its hips (r. moyesii 'Geranium') doesn't have any left.

Scary, but very interesting, HU. I need to take a walk around my garden. Our ornamental trees provide berries to birds all winter, including quail, migrating robins, and the lone pesty squirrel who likes them. Diane

Two of my other most prolific hip bearers were mentioned by Malcolm and Diane - Dortmund and Morden Sunrise. Mme Isaac Pereire also has big juicy red hips. Bajazzo makes tons.

The largest I've ever seen were on Scabrosa, but we wrestled that rose out of the garden last year. He suckered way too much and took over a bed. HU, does your Scabrosa do that? Have you ever used his hips in cooking? I kind of hope he comes back. The bees loved him and his hips were very showy. I always intended to use them for jelly but never did.

I have Scabrosa in a strip between my sidewalk and driveway, underneath a manzanita, so the suckering hasn't been too bad. I actually like prickly suckers in that spot to stop cats from running across the strip and getting wood chips and dirt in my driveway. I don't think rugosas are technically suited for my zone (10A), so it hasn't gotten out of control. It's grown to cover an area of maybe about five feet by four feet. I also keep it pretty dry due to the manzanita. At first, I had a lot of issues with rust, but it's outgrown that. I do like the huge cheerful flowers contrasting with the bright green crumpled foliage. I've never cooked with the hips. I'll have to try doing something with them before they rot next year!

Thanks, HU. Scabrosa isn't suited for my climate either. Too dry here. Mine was close to 20 yrs. old, so I do miss him, but he was coming up under other roses and even in the lawn. I would like a smaller, more well behaved version of himself. Sounds perfect for where you're using him.

Scabrosa, In the local rose garden. It has some of the best hips of the rugosa section. There’s snother one that is nice but has lost the name tag.

the unnamed rugosa

woods rose, closer up

Thanks so much everyone for the great responses! I’m really enjoying reading them all and looking at the gorgeous and/or interesting photos. I’ll try and respond a few at a time, starting from the earliest...

Hi Sultry… how cute you have squirrel gardeners/ propagators! Those are two stunning red roses so it will indeed be interesting to see their progeny. Can you remember what their hips look like, ie colour, form?

Hi Seil… mmm that Golden Wings hip looks beautiful, gold to match the golden blooms… I think (IIRC) I must have only seen photos of them later on, after the hips have gone a dark purplish brown, that looks black from a distance, in spinosissima style.

MisMagpie - oh, you must definitely get some roses for their hips, now you have all that extra space! I love all the different shapes, colours and textures they come in.. Perhaps this thread will help provide some inspiration for you or others to give some a try… :-)

KS - Hi! I love the shiny dark spinosissima hips too; I think they might be my favourites. It’s sad yours get eaten early, but how good to know one’s garden is providing nourishment for other creatures, as well as for one’s own pleasure. Please do share if you have any old photos stashed away, if you get the time.

Wow, Helen (bayareagirl) - those James Galway hips are absolutely gorgeous! And such a beautiful photo too.. Is it current? The hips must last very well if so, unless this rose blooms and sets hips right through into winter for you there. That's quite a result you got from the seeds you sowed, they all look really healthy and strong. What are you planning to do with them all?

To be continued...

Comtesse here are some persistent hips.

Heritage

Eglantaria

Guirlande d'Amour

I took a short walk (lots of slush on the ground) to check some of my roses for hips, and was happy to see so many had them, and that some hips looked quite good. As I previously mentioned, Morden Sunrise had quite a few, even after I'd made a bouquet of hips; my two big Julia Child roses had lots of hips, as did Golden Celebration. My favorite rose hips were on Brother Cadfael, who sported deep wine colored hips to match his beautiful deep wine red canes. I need to take a photo of those. One of Brother Cadfael's pluses are those beautiful canes with few thorns. Diane

Above are Morden Sunrise hips from 2016 during November. Some are still orange while others are a beautiful red. Diane

I am at the tail end of pruning my roses here in NorCal (I am late, everything is sprouting already)
A champion hipster from last fall was Blue Girl (photo).
My favorite hips to munch on are Rainbow Sorbet (can't find photo) which, true to its name, are very sweet and fruity!

@Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR please tell me more about your Guirland!!! I've been looking at it all winter but really couldn't come to a decision. Not that I have any business buying more roses this year.

@comtessedelacouche (10b S.Australia: hotdryMedclimate) I used those hips for the seedlings in the pictures. However, there are still a lot of hips on James Galway right now. Helen

I have a few roses that produce hips. Here in Warm Winter Land, I stop dead-heading in October and let them form hips which (from what I have read) signals the roses to go dormant - slightly. Since they wouldn't go dormant from cold - I don't think 55 degrees is cold enough to make them go dormant.. I have just about pruned them all off. Rambling Rector is my favorite - but i just wrestled him apart from a philadelphus that was co-mingling with him. I cut the hips off what i could reach. They are small and reddish in clusters - very pretty for autumn and winter on an otherwise once-bloomer.

Does anyone know which rose hips make the best jelly? I remember having a Rose Hip candy bar back in the late 60's - early 70's. The hippie days! Rose hip jelly - very firm - coated in chocolate. I can still taste it in my mind...tangy, delicious!

Magpie, G d'Amour is a very healthy shrub arching wider than tall. Wonderful fragrance. Mine is a always in bloom first year. Do you have Darlow's Enigma? DE is upright and different shape, but G d'A seems to be the graceful spreading horizontal version in being so low maintenance but always looks good. It will only get better.

I'm trying to show Guirlande's shape.

Sheila - your Guirlande is a beauty - "shrub arching wider than tall" - uh oh...I got this one last year and planted at the base of a 6' fence to climb up and drape over. Hmmm...I hope I didn't make a mistake with it's form - there isn't room for it to go wide where I planted it. It's own root and hasn't done much yet.

You might tie the canes up and let them cascade down, Birds. That would be gorgeous. Mine will end up a taller heap which will also look great. Mine was a band last year, so it will be great to see what it does this year.

Compassion, Mountain Mignonette and Bonica are my best hipped, Darlow's Enigma are all shrivelled up now but 2 months ago they were gorgeous.

Thanks, Sheila. No I don't have Darlow's Enigma, the photos of it never sang to me. And I don't think I'd have the room, as it is I might buy some more on Monday that I don't yet have a plan for. Someone save me from temptation haha 😅

smithdale - I looked at Mountain Mignonette awhile ago just because of the name - never got it, but might have to for the hips!

BirdsLove - This is an adorable rose! Incredibly healthy with lots of small lilac pink roses. The hips are small and red. A week ago we had unseasonably cold (lows in the mid 20's)weather and then about 8-9" of snow. She survived intact with no damage to her new growth. Hips unharmed as well. If only Darlow's Enigma hips were as sturdy.

I had 'Bonica' for years (how it ever arrived in the garden I don't know; sometimes I think plants grow legs and just walk in) and used to call it my "Baskin-Robbins rose" on account of the pink blooms and orange hips on the plant at the same time.

Off the top of my head, and not considering how long the hips last, R. moschata has nice hips, and its putative offspring 'Dupontii', a large, noble rose, has excellent ones, set in large clusters and softly colored in a pinkish tone. R. helenae sets tons of little hips. R. rugosa has large fat red-orange hips, tangy and flavorful. R. canina, abundant lacquered red oval hips, though the plant itself is not ornamental enough for the garden, in my opinion. Bourbon 'Louise Odier' sets generous hips if left un-deadheaded, orange-red, large, oval, with persistent black sepals; in my garden it's part of a brief but pleasant autumnal display, in company with a yellow-variegated euonymus and the flaming fall color of a crape myrtle.

I’m surprised to hear that the hips on Darlow’s Enigna don’t last all winter. I thought that because they are small that they would dry out and remain. That’s disappointing!

Maybe they were eaten by birds.