# Rose Hips



## BadgeBunny (Nov 2, 2010)

rose hips ... they are a good source of Vitamin C also ...

From Dr. Weil's website:

"Rose hips have a very high vitamin C content, providing even more than citrus fruits. During World War II, when citrus imports were limited, rose hips became quite popular in Britain where they were used to make nutritious rose-hip syrup. 

Rose hips also contain vitamins A, B-3, D and E as well as bioflavonoids, citric acid, flavonoids, fructose, malic acid, tannins and zinc. Traditionally, tea made from rose hips is considered good for treating diarrhea and infections, particularly bladder infections."

Rose hip tea is pretty good stuff if you add a little honey to it.


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## nj_m715 (Oct 31, 2008)

Is a rose hip a rose bud?


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## BadgeBunny (Nov 2, 2010)

nj_m715 said:


> Is a rose hip a rose bud?


No, it is the little bud looking thing left after a rose flower's leaves fall off. I am not sure if this is true of all rose bushes but the hips on mine are bright red.

I have made rose hip tea, which is kinda bland to me but I am one of those gals who has drank/drunk (??) really dark unsweetened tea all her life. No sun tea for me ... you gotta boil the water and then let twice as many tea bags as usual steep overnight!  I know ... I know ...

I made some rose hip jelly last year but it didn't set up so I guess it was actually rose hip syrup ...  Only had one little jar. This year I am planting a couple more rose bushes ... :flower:


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## BizzyB (Dec 10, 2010)

I am inspired to try some roses this year myself, now, guys. Will look into some varieties that are known for their hips.


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## BadgeBunny (Nov 2, 2010)

BizzyB said:


> I am inspired to try some roses this year myself, now, guys. Will look into some varieties that are known for their hips.


The garden-nut neighbor (I mean that in the kindest, gentlest way possible ... when she first moved in she was in the yard from dawn to after dusk ... one of the other neighbors started calling her the GardenNut and it stuck) down the street has these ... That's okay ... she calls me VP of the NWO (get it?? JBT's wife ... lol)

Fru Dagmar Hastrup Rose - Spring Valley Roses Hardy Roses and Plants for Birds

Her bush is absolutely covered with hips every year ...

I have some kind of hybrid tea rose that gives me some but not nearly as much as hers. I am digging that one out and putting a couple of these in.

ETA: I don't know anything about the nursery that link is to. I just posted it because that is the rose that GN told me she has and was the first link that I found when I googled.


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## dawnwinds58 (Jul 12, 2010)

We grow dog roses (rosa canina), great hips and near indestructable. They can get pretty out of hand if left to their own. We use a tea made from rose hips (cleaned to clear those fish bone spines), raspberry(leaf), and hibiscus (var. roselle "Hibiscus sabdariffa" sepals and petals both) to help keep my diabetic husband's blood sugar under control.

They are all part of the growing perennial "edible landscape" we're planting. 

My European black currants go in the ground today. The witch hazel (astringent and disinfectant from the 1800's) and hazelnuts/filberts (high in protein and minerals) should be here the 1st week in March. They'll go in like an English hedgerow by the fence. Landscaping isn't something that gains much attention around here. If I happen to choose to landscape with things that can provide food, nutrition, and medical needs, just seems a good idea. 

We're putting in a small honey bee meadow/wildflower planting with flowers bees appreciate like red clover and chickory, and some old herbal remedies like toothache plant, feverfew, boneset, self-heal, and echinacea. We plan on adding to it as we find good dependable sources for the seeds. It's sort of a test really, both for us and the bees. We want to see if we can pull a swarmed colony in with a reliable year around food source, and if the medicinal flowers might help them survive with all the trouble bees are having. The herbals help us and they have way better instincts. It's worth a try for steady pollinators.


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## SaskDame (Aug 27, 2010)

Feverfew is reported to repel bees,


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## nj_m715 (Oct 31, 2008)

Ok, so If I pick a rose flower and play "she loves me, she loves me not" what's left in my hand is a rose hip right? Sorry for the silly questions. I never heard of these before and my neighbor has a good sized rose bush growing on our fence. I'll have to save some and try it this year. I like the idea of adding vitamins to the diet. Thanks


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## BadgeBunny (Nov 2, 2010)

nj_m715 said:


> Ok, so If I pick a rose flower and play "she loves me, she loves me not" what's left in my hand is a rose hip right? Sorry for the silly questions. I never heard of these before and my neighbor has a good sized rose bush growing on our fence. I'll have to save some and try it this year. I like the idea of adding vitamins to the diet. Thanks


Technically yes that is true. But for it to be ripe you have to leave it on the bush and let the petals fall off after the flower dies. What is left is the rose hip. I am no expert but in my experience the hip is bright red when ripe.

If you pick it and cut it open you will find little compartments full of little black seeds. I'm not sure if that is where all the Vitamin C is but I can tell you it makes really good jelly/syrup.

I'm kinda bad about picking petals here and there as the flowers are blooming. If the bush is really covered up you can pick about half the petals, let the rest mature out and fall and then have really bright rose hips too.

Yeah ... I've been told I am a little bit "out there" but that is what works for me ...


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## BadgeBunny (Nov 2, 2010)

SaskDame said:


> Feverfew is reported to repel bees,


Really?? That's good to know.

It is also a herbal treatment for migraines. Doesn't work all the time for me but if it saves me from having to take meds that knock me plumb out even part of the time it is a plus in my book.

I have a hard time keeping it alive through the winter here. I really need a greenhouse.


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## nj_m715 (Oct 31, 2008)

Thanks, got it.


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## dawnwinds58 (Jul 12, 2010)

Rose hips are great because you really don't have to do much to them. You enjoy the flowers, wait till the petals drop, watch for a slight "shriveling" as they dry and pick them. The part of the hip you want is the "fleshy" capsule pf the hip. Inside are spines, like small fish bones. Cut it in half, use a rag or a spoon to remove all the spines. What is left is a hip full of vitamin C and good stuff. 

Dog roses bloom steady all year, well ours do except for mid summer when the heat goes over 90 degrees with 90% humidity.

They are pretty carefree things for us. It is more trouble to keep them where they belong.


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## SaskDame (Aug 27, 2010)

I have given up on feverfew here and two miles down the road one of my neighbours considers it a weed in her garden where it self seeds and is everywhere. As a herbal for migranes do you use the flowers to make tea?

We do have a large wild rose patch though, and I harvest hips every year; generally after the first frost.


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## Idaholady (Apr 24, 2010)

I waited until the rose petals were gone and we'd had a nice frost before picking all the rose hips that had turned red. I tried to make rose hip syrup, but it turned out awful! Does anyone have any recipes for using rose hips? I've planted numerous rose bushes just for the rose hips. Thanks!


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## BadgeBunny (Nov 2, 2010)

SaskDame said:


> I have given up on feverfew here and two miles down the road one of my neighbours considers it a weed in her garden where it self seeds and is everywhere. As a herbal for migranes do you use the flowers to make tea?
> 
> We do have a large wild rose patch though, and I harvest hips every year; generally after the first frost.


I use the leaves. Relief is not consistent and appears to be tied to whatever triggered the migraine in the first place -- I have like a bazillon triggers. If it is weather related (every single time it rains I get a raging migraine 24 hours before) nothing works ...  I just have to go crawl in bed in a cool, dark, soundless room and wait it out ... :surrender:

But then again, I can say the same thing for every single drug (or combination thereof) my MD has prescribed ... :dunno: The best I can hope for is to pass out but even that is a double-edged sword ... there is nothing so defeating as waking up with the same raging headache you had when you finally fell asleep ... :gaah:

You can get feverfew capsules at the pharmacy OTC. I have thought about trying those as a herbalist told me you had to take it every day for best results. (Yes, I tried drinking the tea every day (morning noon and night). Again, the results were spotty. But that doesn't mean it won't work for you. Good luck!!


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## dawnwinds58 (Jul 12, 2010)

Thanks for the "heads up" on the feverfew and bees. If they have the same effect as pennyroyal, they'll be over by the kids play things.


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## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

BadgeBunny said:


> I use the leaves. Relief is not consistent and appears to be tied to whatever triggered the migraine in the first place -- I have like a bazillon triggers. If it is weather related (every single time it rains I get a raging migraine 24 hours before) nothing works ...  I just have to go crawl in bed in a cool, dark, soundless room and wait it out ... :surrender:
> 
> But then again, I can say the same thing for every single drug (or combination thereof) my MD has prescribed ... :dunno: The best I can hope for is to pass out but even that is a double-edged sword ... there is nothing so defeating as waking up with the same raging headache you had when you finally fell asleep ... :gaah:
> 
> You can get feverfew capsules at the pharmacy OTC. I have thought about trying those as a herbalist told me you had to take it every day for best results. (Yes, I tried drinking the tea every day (morning noon and night). Again, the results were spotty. But that doesn't mean it won't work for you. Good luck!!


I get migraines since my car accident and what helps me and is almost like a miracle drug is Butterbur (Petadolex) it can be taken every day or just when you feel a migraine coming--and I do know when they are coming.. I have even taken it after a migraine started and it stopped and went away.
They have been using it for years in EU and the UK and while it might not work for everyone(well what does anyhoo?) It works great for me and it helped my cousin with her migraines..


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## Centraltn (Feb 21, 2011)

Saskdame, I find real liquorice a far better migraine treatment. The only candy that I can find that makes their candy with REAL licorice, is Good and Plenty. At the first sign of a headache.. go for several pieces of that candy. it'll usually stop it in its tracks. 

Any chest colds, asthma or bronchitis? Mullien (locals pronounce in mullen)grows literally in every state. Its a light green fuzzy leafed plant that grows in whorls from the center. The leaves here in Tn can get longer than my hand. It is a biennial so ya dont wanna just yank it up when ya find it. The 2nd year it puts out a spike about 3' tall with sparse yellow flowers on it. I have a rule, I never take more than 5 leaves... OR I always leave atleast 3-4 on the plant. Next year, after the flower spike is gone, if you roughen up the soil around where it was, another plant or group will sprout. This stuff is great for congestion. Make it into a tea. I dry it and crumble it. I use a hand ful to make a qt of tea. Just bring it to a boil, shut it off and let it steep for 20 mins. You can add lemon balm, echinacea or your own tea to it and sweeten to taste. Its a miracle worker. Breathing in the warm steam from it is as helpful as drinking it IMHO. You can sweeten it with anything you like or have.


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