Stop and Eat the Roses
I like beautiful plants as much as the next person. Walking past my rose garden always brings me joy on a daily basis. However, it’s easy to forget the utility of something when we are overwhelmed by its splendor. This is one of the symptoms we experience as a culture being so far removed from the prospects of starvation and want: We’ve forgotten that many beautiful things are indeed useful!
Take my roses for example. Did you know that roses are edible?
Eating rose petals is an ancient tradition that can be traced back to the Roman Empire. In those days, rose petals would be sprinkled on food to celebrate victories in the battlefield. The petals themselves vary in flavor; lightly colored petals are sweeter and dark petals tend to have a more perfumed quality. For the best results, you should remove the very bottom of the petals when you use them as they can be very bitter. So the next time you have a salad, try adding a few rose petals. You may find it’s a meal fit for Caesar.
But the petals are not the only edible part of rosebushes, nor are the Romans the only culture to have practiced the eating of roses. The Northern Plains Indians have traditionally incorporated roses into their diet, specifically rosehips.
Rosehips are the red or red-orange fruit left over after the roses finish blooming. Just like apple blossoms turn into apples, rose blossoms turn into rosehips. Many people are unfamiliar with rosehips because decorative rosebushes are generally deadheaded before the fruits have time to develop. Adding to their obscurity is the fact that they can be very small. In hybrid tea varieties, the hips can be the size of a dime; in some wild roses they’re even smaller.
Despite their size, rosehips pack a nutritious wallop. Just one ounce of them contains 199% of the daily recommended value of Vitamin C. That’s the same amount as six limes, four lemons, or two oranges. One ounce of rosehips also contains 24% of suggested daily Vitamin A, 27% of suggested daily dietary fiber requirement, and is considered a good source of Vitamin E, Vitamin K, Calcium, Magnesium, and Manganese. All of this for just 45 calories provided you can bear the taste without sugar.
Roses are just one example of edible flowers. Hibiscus, Hollyhocks, and Chrysanthemums have edible parts as do many other flowers, yet because of our abundance and their beauty we rarely consider eating them. However, if you truly want to be a good steward of all your resources — including your flower beds — then you should consider what extra value can be derived from each and every plant in your garden. With a little creativity a great deal of useful, edible, and beautiful plants can be incorporated into space that would otherwise be wasted.
Until next time, “waste not, want not.”
From the farm,
John Goforth
John Goforth is our friend from the east coast who has been involved in agriculture most of his life. He is the son of David Goforth (M.S. in Horticulture and Cabarrus County’s agricultural extension agent) and grew up on the family farm in Rockwell, NC. At age 13, with his father and brother, he started selling produce at the Piedmont Farmer’s Market which eventually evolved into Goforth’s Garden. Today, they raise peaches, blueberries, and an assortment of other fruits and vegetables to be sold at local markets and through their CSA. John’s other interest include writing, whittling, and woodworking.
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Are the rosehips also called “suckers”? If so, the pruning websites I have read tell you to remove these. You may have given these so-called pesky ugly parts new beauty.
Colleen, when I think of “suckers” I think of the shoots that come out at the bends of the plant, or sometimes from below the graft on the rootstock.
The rosehips themselves are what’s left over after the flower dies, it will remain right at the top of the stem. Here’s a photo http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V_sWwCIeFt0/TxayPjpR6GI/AAAAAAAAAF4/ryRu9ajWkPQ/s1600/rosehip.jpg
Now what you should do with your suckers is root them. If you take a sucker and add a little rootone you might get very cheap baby rose bush. Though in my experience it’s hard to get them to live…but still a fun hobby.
Just the kind of experimenting I like to do. Thanks John.
since this article we’ve had white and red rose petals in salads several times, and added them to some smoothies. great stuff.
At our house, we love rose hip jelly, as well as rose hip syrup. We don’t own/grow any of our own roses but each year we forage rose his from Rosa rugosa bushes all over our city. People used to think we were a little crazy, but now they know us and wave hello. We share the jelly with folks and people are surprised and excited by how good (and nutritious) it is. Just three hips contain the same amount of vitamin C as an entire orange, but unlike oranges you can grow roses in New England! Hooray for local food
People wave Hello in the New England states?! I am one surprised southerner (kidding.)
I am unfamiliar with Rosa rugosa, or if I am familiar with it, I don’t know it. Thank you for putting the name out there so I can educated myself. About how large are the hips on the plant?
They sound quite large if you’re able to get enough jelly to give away!
I always hold onto my felrows for too long. Like until they start to smell and not in a good way ha! I just hate to throw them away. I guess I should start buying some actual plants for my place that have a little more longevity.