The rose is the nation’s favourite cultivated flower, available in myriad varieties and colours with new ones being added on a regular basis.

I’m not a great admirer of roses in general, so for me one of the great floral delights of mid-summer is the wild, or ‘dog rose’ of hedgerows and the rose from which all cultivated strains have evolved.

‘Dog’ is often used in a derogatory sense meaning of little worth. However, in this case, nobody is sure just how the dog rose was so named. Does ‘dog’ refer to the dog days of summer, being the hottest period of the year?

On the other hand, the ancient Greeks named the wild rose ‘dog rose’ believing that a distillation of its roots could cure anyone bitten by a rabid dog.

Henry VII adopted the Tudor rose as his emblem and symbol of the monarchy, and much later, especially in the second world war, rose hip syrup was a valuable source of vitamin C for children.

I love the uncluttered simplicity of the single petalled beauty of the dog rose perfected by nature and although faintly scented to us, it is rare to see insects alighting on it as the pollen and nectar content is limited, a feature of all roses in fact.

So, ‘dog rose’ of little worth? I think not.

The dog rose can often be seen covered in a bright red spiky growth called a robin’s pincushion. Also known as the rose bedeguar gall it is caused by the larvae of a tiny parasitic gall wasp. There may be up to 50 chambers within the pincushion each housing a tiny larva. It does not seem to harm the plant in any way. There is a whole range of so called plant galls found on a variety of plants.