Posted on by mossytonic

Beauty & Function | The Rose

A pink cultivated rose at Portland, OR Rose Garden

You are probably lucky enough to have encountered a gorgeous, heavenly scented rose before. This iconic flower has another side to her, a lesser known side, like many of us do.

History

The rose we know today it is a hybridized version of the delicate, humble Wild Rose. From this dainty cutie, humans bred Rosa to be bigger, have many more petal and come in a rainbow of colors, sizes and scents. (Someone even had the audacity to selectively breed some varieties without even preserving a subtle scent! Maybe the allergy sufferers can appreciate it, but I digress.)

Wild Rose aka the Original Rose

One way to learn to understand a plant is to learn about the family it belongs to. For rose it’s an easy one to remember; it’s part of the Rose family. This family includes our apples, pears, peaches, raspberries and many other well known and edible plants. Though not all rose family plants produce edible fruit, many do.

Give the gift of Clear, Soft & Radiant Skin this Valentines

Learn the Holistic approach to naturally healthy skin

Many Uses

Simply being in the presence of roses can help to uplift and inspire a gloomy perspective. In addition, they are also a wild or foraged food, a gentle food-as-medicine herb and beneficial for skin health.

Rose Hips Check out more herbal insights at our Herbalist’s Instagram

A Wild Food | After the showy flowers die back in Autumn, green fruits start to mature. They grow in to bright red edible fruits (the “hips”) that are often plump and juicy. The size and shape varies a bit. They’re no sweet peach, but the flesh is edible, and the bright red hue high in healthy antioxidants and vitamin C.

Health Benefits | The rose hips high antioxidant content make them a valuable ally in diseases related to capillary damage, such as diabetes and heart disease. They also contain a good amount of pectin, which can sooth an irritated digestive tract. (See the Simple Recipe below!)

Skin Care | Topically, rose hip seed oil and rose water (the rose infused water that’s separated from the aromatic oils when making rose essential oil) are both soothing and hydrating to the skin. Many skin conditions respond well to rose water, including acne, psoriasis and dry/sensitive skin.

How to harvest Rose Hips

You get very clear on your plant identification first! Getting multiple sources such as a reference books and the opinion of a nature expert is recommended. Learn about proper, sustainable harvesting and foraging practices and don’t harvest from sprayed bushes.

Once you are sure it’s an edible rose hip, you can nibble away on it as long as you steer clear of the fuzzy seeds in the center. These “hairy” seeds are not pleasant to ingest or digest so do be careful. You can nibble on these fruits like tiny apples, or remove the flesh and add to other food or beverages, or process and dry for later use. Bonus tip: Grind up dried rosehips to make a natural powder that’s high in Vitamin C.

Since the processing can take a bit of time, some opt to simply buy dried and deseeded rose hips from a reliable source or health food store.

Bonus recipe: Super Simple Rose Applesauce:

– Add 2 Tbsp dried rosehips to 1/2 cup of apple juice

– Wait 2+ hours for the hips to soften up

– Add this with with 1 cups of apples and blend

Viola!

Refrigerate and enjoy your High Vitamin C Rose Applesauce in the next 3 days.

Check out our Instagram for more Herb and Wild Food facts!

49 Replies to “Beauty & Function | The Rose”

  1. If you want to use the photo it would also be good to check with the artist beforehand in case it is subject to copyright. Best wishes. Aaren Reggis Sela

  2. An impressive share! I have just forwarded this onto a coworker who was conducting a little research on this. Pat Son Celia

  4. If some one wants expert view about running a blog afterward i recommend him/her to pay a quick visit this weblog, Keep up the nice job. George Beaufort Addie

  7. You made several fine points there. I did a search on the topic and found nearly all persons will consent with your blog. Keriann Walther Him

  15. Definitely imagine that which you said. Your favourite reason seemed to be on the net the simplest thing to keep in mind of. Ariel Huey Scoter

  31. This post was amazing i try to read your blog fairly often, and you’re always coming out with pretty great stuff. I embedded this on my blog, and my followers loved it. Keep up the very good work

  35. This is a good tip particularly to those fresh to the blogosphere. Simple but very accurate information?Many thanks for sharing this one. A must read article! Abbye Frannie Corydon

  37. Hello There. I found your blog using msn. This is a really well written article. I will make sure to bookmark it and return to read more of your useful info. Thanks for the post. I will certainly return. Dennie Andrew Trask

  38. Excellent read, I just passed this onto a colleague who was doing some research on that. And he actually bought me lunch because I found it for him smile Thus let me rephrase that: Thank you for lunch! Eveline Ambros Bindman

  41. Hi there. I discovered your blog by way of Google at the same time as searching for a comparable subject, your website got here up. It appears good. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to come back then. Barby Franzen Hyacinthe

  42. Hmm it seems like your site ate my first comment (it was extremely long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I had written and
    say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I as well am an aspiring blog blogger
    but I’m still new to everything. Do you have any helpful hints for beginner blog writers?

    I’d really appreciate it.

    1. Thank you so much! Well I’m very interested in Herbalism so I like to write posts on either things I already know about that can be helpful to other, as well as new things I’m learning (that will also be helpful).
      Hope that helps!
      -Tania O.

    2. Also having a consistent schedule is great (which I’m still working on). Once a month or even once a week if you have time. Also link a tidbit of the info from a social media post (such as “read more about it here *link to blog*).

Comments are closed.