The wrinkled and illegal Nordic-japanese Rose

In the Nordic landscape, an unassuming invader blooms—often in whites, pinks, and shades of lilac. This is the Nordic-Japanese rugged rose, so robust that it's now regulated in Finland and Denmark, with Sweden pondering its verdict. This hearty transplant owes its journey to a Swedish protege of Carl Von Linné, who brought the rose from Japan. Since then, the rose has been an unwitting conqueror, outcompeting native plants at their own game.

But let's talk about the scent—oh, the scent! Fruity, citrusy, and intoxicating, the aroma envelops you, only to be shy when taken into a vase. Once picked and placed in a vase, the petals of the Nordic-Japanese rugged rose have a tendency to quickly detach from the flower, almost as if saying, "I belong in the wild; this vase is not my stage."

Yet the flowers are not this rose's only gift. Come fall, it offers a fruit unlike most roses. These are not the modest hips of your garden variety rose; these are robust, some even dwarfing cherry tomatoes. Meaty and generous, they age and 'blett' naturally on the branch, enriching their flavor throughout the autumn. And from these autumnal gems, we craft jams and jellies, capturing in a jar the complex character of a plant both beloved and reviled.