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Rose Hips – Herb of the Month

By Maryann Readal

If you grow roses, plan now for rose hips. Simply leave the spent flowers on your rose bushes after their last bloom of the season. Do NOT cut them off. Allow the fruits of the rose, which are the rose “hips,” to ripen on the bush. The hips will turn red or orange depending on the rose variety. When the sides of the hips are soft to the touch, they are ready to harvest. Waiting to harvest until after the first light frost increases the flavor of the hips.

Now, you may be wondering why you should allow your roses to form hips. Here are some good reasons:

Ounce for ounce, rose hips contain eight times more vitamin C than oranges, according to the US Department of Agriculture Food Data Central.
They are also rich in vitamins A, B, E, and K, as well as other nutrients.
Rose hips make a nice tea and can be used in making jams, jellies, soups, and even wine.
Rose hips are a food source for birds during the winter.
Their bright red to orange color brightens the winter garden.
The formation of rose hips on your rose bushes signals the roots of the rose to conserve energy and prepares the bush for winter.

Rose hips can be cooked, dried, or frozen. To prepare ripe rose hips, cut off the blossom and stem ends of the rose hip. Slice them in half and remove the hairy seeds. They are now ready to be used for jams or jellies, or dried or frozen for later use. Processing rose hips does reduce the vitamin C content.

Like many other herbs, rosehips have a long history of use.

Ancient Chinese, Greeks, Romans and Persians used rose hips for medicine. Pliny the Elder (23-79 BCE) in his book Natural History documented thirty-two remedies made from the rose. He said, “In the case of a toothache, the seed (rose) is employed in the form of a liniment; it acts also as a diuretic, and is used as a topical application for the stomach.”
Rose hips were served as a sweetmeat in the Middle Ages and were used as a treatment for chest problems (Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine).
Native Americans used the hips of native roses for food and for medicine.
Nicholas Culpepper (1616-1654), a famous English physician, botanist, and herbalist, details use of rose hips as medicine in his book the Complete Herbal. He said, “The pulp of the hips have a grateful acidity, strengthens the stomach, cools the heat of fever, is pectoral, good for coughs and spitting of blood.”
During World War II, when supplies of citrus fruits were cut off, rose hips were collected in England and made into syrup. The syrup, high in vitamin C, was given to children to prevent scurvy.
Today, according to WebMD, people use rose hips to boost their immune systems because of the high Vitamin C content. There is some evidence that rose hips may also be an effective treatment for joint pain and stiffness. Always consult with your health care provider before treating health symptoms with herbs.

So, which roses are best for rose hips? Hybrid tea roses are bred for the beauty of the bud and flower, and are definitely not the best choices if you want robust rose hips. The old fashioned varieties, Rosa canina (dog rose) and Rosa rugosa, are the best producers of rose hips. According to the American Rose Society, the Hansa and the Frau Dagmar Hastrup varieties and other R. rugosas produce the best hips. These old roses are the easiest to care for of all of the rose varieties and are a sure winner if you are looking to harvest your own rose hips. One caution though, if you are planning to use your hips in recipes, do not spray them with chemicals.

Rose hips are the Herb of the Month for The Herb Society of America. For more information, recipes, and a beautiful screen saver, go to https://www.herbsociety.org/hsa-learn/herb-of-the-month.html

For a very nice guide to roses, go to The Herb Society of America Essential Guide to Roses. https://www.herbsociety.org/file_download/inline/83784ac3-dac2-4586-8d62-6bbf56a98b74

References:

American Rose Society. Hip! Hip! Hooray!!! https://www.rose.org/post/2018/04/19/hip-hip-hooray. Accessed 9/14/20.

Bucks, Christine. Hips, hips, hurray! Organic Gardening. Vol. 43, Issue 9. December 1996. Availble from Ebscohost. Accessed 9/14/20.

Chevallier, Andrew. Encyclopedia of medicinal plants. NY: DK Publishing Inc. 2000.

Culpepper, Nicholas. Complete herbal. London: Foulsham, 1880. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/culpeperscomplet00culpuoft/page/298/mode/2up Accessed 9/14/20)

Duluth News Tribune. Yardsmart: History and uses of rose hips. https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/lifestyle/4166730-yardsmart-history-and-uses-rose-hips. Accessed 9/13/20.

Fenyvesi, Charles. Reveling in Rosehips: a deliciously delightful harvest. Washington Post, October 20, 1988. Available from ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Accessed 9/11/20.

Hope, Christopher. The medicinal benefits of rose hips. https://www.permaculture.co.uk/articles/medicinal-benefits-rose-hips. Accessed 9/11/20.

Patel, Seema. Trends in Food Science & Technology. Vol. 63, pg. 29-38. May 2017. Available from Ebscohost. Accessed 9/14/20.

Pliny the Elder. Natural history of Pliny. London; Henry Bohn, 1853. Volume 3, Pg. 265. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/naturalhistoryof03plin Accessed 9/16/20.

Toops, Connie. Roses: seven rose species whose hips and thorny thickets provide food and shelter for birds in winter. Birders World. Vol. 18, Issue 6. December 2004. Available from Gale in Context Science database. Accessed 915/20.

US Department of Agriculture. Food Data Central. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/. Accessed 9/15/20

WebMd. Rosehips. https://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/rosehip-uses-and-risks#1 Accessed 9/15.20.

Photo Credits: 1) Rosa rugosa ‘Hansa’ hips and flower (Creative Commons, W. Carter); 2) Rose hip tea box (Maryann Readal); 3) Rose hip tea (Maryann Readal); 4) Rose hips (Pixabay)

Medicinal Disclaimer: It is the policy of The Herb Society of America, Inc. not to advise or recommend herbs for medicinal or health use. This information is intended for educational purposes only and should not be considered as a recommendation or an endorsement of any particular medical or health treatment. Please consult a health care provider before pursuing any herbal treatments.

Maryann is the Secretary of The Herb Society of America. She is a Master Gardener and a member of The Society’s Texas Thyme Unit in Huntsville, TX. She gardens among the pines in the Piney Woods of East Texas.

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