Hello, I have a very unattractive bush in my newly acquired apartment garden. I'm tempted to just pull the thing out, but I'd love to know what it is first. Maybe it's worth keeping??? It's about 2 feet tall and has largish (~1cm) red berries(?) on it. I've included pictures below. Anyone know what it is? I am in Vancouver, BC.
Welcome CanCricket. It is Rosa, common name Rose. The large red berries are the seed pods, they are called rose hips. http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ro...&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1255&bih=537
I see flower buds in the photos, so should be blooming soon. Roses are generally pruned for shape and such in late Winter, while they are dormant. So if you decide to keep the plant, you may want to read up on doing that before next year.
Thanks to both of you for your information. I am so glad I didn't pull the bush up. The garden is small but looks like a terrible wilderness as the previous tenant didn't do anything to it. I've made only a small dent in making it look nice and I was just tempted to pull everything out and start again! I'm so glad now that I left that bush alone. Now, to get back to pulling out all the long grass & weeds that are in there!
Looks like a wild-type rose, might not be quite what you expect in terms of flower quality! Look up Rosa canina to give you some idea of what to expect.