Dog Roses & My Healing Garden

RHS Hedge Nursery

My plot is bordered on one side by  a Willow hedge and on the other by Dog Roses. The Dog Roses were planted partly to screen yet another ugly poly-tunnels on my neighbour's plot but mainly for their beautiful flowers and hips.  It will also,when grown fully, provide a wonderful wild life habitat .  It was only bought from RHS hedge nursery at end of March this year and needs time to develop in to a thicket.

I am looking forward to seeing it grow and flourish next year.  I hope to see the beautiful flower which are pink with a white center, and then in autumn harvest the rose hips, leaving some for the birds and other creatures.

Gardening teaches patience and also engenders optimism and imagination. I planted the Dog Roses in March in a heavy rain, knowing that they would take a year or more to develop into the picturesque  hedge of  my imagination.  Nature cannot be hurried, on this cold, damp day with only a glimpse of weak sunlight I am planting the last of the spring bulbs.  The grey days make me feel dreary but I know that through the magic of Spring these bulbs, and the plants I have sown in autumn, will brighten late Spring and Early Summer with beautiful flowers and the Dog Rose hedge will have thickened and rose buds will be forming.

I decided to have a dog rose hedge because they are beautiful plants which have flourished since the stone age but also for healing benefits. Fresh Rose hips have used to make jams, jellies, and syrup in Britain, Norway Sweden, Russia, and many other European Countries they were also used in cooking  as well as preserves.  They can be added to apples to make delicious pies or sauces.  When using fresh rose hips in cooking you need to split the hip in half and  remove the seeds and the tiny hairs of the hip as they can cause irritation internally.  In fact  some children long ago used to make an itching powder from the hairs and use it to annoy friends, families and neighbours.  When using Rose hips in tea you do not have to take out the seeds,  which have an age old reputation of being beneficial to the gallbladder and kidneys.  Rose hips contain a rich source of vitamin C as well vitamins A,E,B.

During the second World War rose hips were gathered as an important source of vitamin C and made into syrup and was especially recommended for babies and children.  Now a days if you want to avoid too much sugar in the diet you could make the Rose hips into a " leather" a puree of rose hips dried in the oven. Here is a recipe

• Rose Hips are sweetest after the first frost, but you can gather them earlier  from the hedgerows and pop them in the freezer until you have enough for a leather you will need about four cups.
• Top and tail the rose hips to remove the stalks and blossom end
• Put them in a pan with just enough water to cover, bring to boil and then simmer for 10 to 15 minutes
• Press the fruit through fine sieve into a bowl..
• Any fruit  pulp that  does not go through the sieve return to the pan  and add enough water to nearly cover the fruit
• Do not boil the pulp simmer for 10 minutes or so
• Repeat the process once  again by  putting any pulp left in the sieve back in the pan  
• Cover with water and simmer for 10 minutes 
• Sieve and discard the seeds and skin.
• Line a baking sheet with grease proof paper, foil or I like to use rice paper - leave an overlap  around the edge to make it easier to remove the leather
•  Pour on the puree, put into a cool oven and dry for two hours or more, roll up  when cool and cut into strips put in air tight jar.  Pop into the fridge  It should last for two or three months. unless it is eaten up before then!

A wonderful immune boast and quite delicious as well.!

In summer I made ice tea with rose hips and hibiscus flowers, a wonderful ruby red tea. Rose Hips have a sour taste and according to your taste need the edition of orange or lemon slices and perhaps sugar.  Adding some dried Hibiscus flowers add sweetness and a lemony tang.  This Ruby Red beverage is delight full to the eye and taste buds.  In addition you are giving your immune system a boast with these two wonderful herbs. During the long hot summer months this year I took  flasks of  this tea iced to my allotment and it enjoyed with friends and family.

Now it is winter I am drinking a hot infusion of a mix Rose Hips and Hibiscus Flowers with two or three cloves, and some Rooibos tea, which makes a dweliciouswarming drink.  I  sometimes add s two or three thin slices of ginger instead of the cloves and some chunks of fresh or dried apple to the tea.

I have found some interesting  recipes to make rose water, rose vinegar and  a face cleanser as well as rose petal jelly.  I will experiment with these in 2014.  Although I may hesitate  to cut the beautiful rose flowers and pull them to pieces.

With Reiki Blessings

MerryB