28/09/2026
Rosa 'Geranium' is an excellent example of a plant that combines beauty and biodiversity! When planted alongside Malus domestica (apple trees), Arbutus unedo (strawberry trees) and Rubus fruticosus (blackberries), it provides valuable support for wildlife. Here's everything you need to know about it:
🌹 The hips create an important food source for birds such as thrushes, blackbirds and fieldfares when other natural foods become scarce. Small mammals may also benefit from fallen hips and the shelter the shrub provides.
🌹 Dense, thorny branches create excellent nesting habitat and refuge from predators for small birds.
🌹 The open, single flowers provide accessible pollen for bees, hoverflies and other pollinating insects throughout the flowering season. Unlike many highly double-flowered roses, the exposed stamens make pollen readily available to insects.
🌹 It grows best in full sun but will tolerate light shade and is adaptable to a wide range of soil types, provided the soil is reasonably well drained
🌹 Once established, it’s a resilient, low-maintenance shrub requiring only occasional pruning to remove dead, damaged or overcrowded stems. It performs well in mixed borders, wildlife gardens and informal planting schemes.
Find out more about boosting wildlife in your garden by growing Rosa 'Geranium': https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/97228/rosa-geranium-moyesii-hybrid-s/details