Rose Hips Newsletter

Newsletter

Rose Hips – A Special Herb

Anyone who uses toxic chemicals on their roses is foolish.

Rose Hips. One reason to not dead-head all your roses is to allow the hips (fruit) to mature. Rose hips in teas, salads and other dishes is an excellent source of vitamin C. Plus some roses, such as the Rugosa rose, have beautiful and decorative hips.

Roses are easy to grow with the organic program and everyone should plant some. Not only are they pretty to look at, but they also have another use. Rose hips are used for herbal tea, jam, jelly, syrup, beverages, pies, bread and marmalade. Read more

A few rose species are sometimes grown for the ornamental value of their hips, such as Rosa moyesii, which has prominent large red bottle-shaped fruits.

Rose hips are also used to feed some pets and horses. The dried and powdered form can be fed at 1 tablespoon per day to improve coat condition and new hoof growth. Rose hips are used in many food preparations and for colds and flues.

The fine hairs inside rose hips are used as itching powder. Dried rose hips are also sold for primitive crafts and are scented with essential oils to be used as a potpourri room air freshener.

Roses are propagated from hips by removing the seeds from the aril (the outer coating) and sowing just beneath the surface of the soil. Placed in a cold frame or a greenhouse, the seeds take at least three months to germinate. The more common propagation method is stem cuttings. Read more

In World War II, the people of Britain gathered wild-grown rose hips and made a Vitamin C syrup for children. This was because German submarines were sinking many commercial ships and citrus fruits from the tropics were very difficult to import.