Herb of the Week for 6th February
Rosy Rosehips by Lynn Kirkland
Rugosa roses are a must for gardeners who are into organics and fuss free
style of gardening.
They are hardy, easy care and look fantastic in the garden.
I regard them as a herbal rose as the hips are abundant in Vitamin C and
the oil from the seeds inside the hips are rich in essential fatty acids
which are so beneficial to the skin.
We use a lot of rosehip oil in our skincare creams and lotions because of
the lovely softening and caring effect it has on the skin.
If you have rugosa roses in your garden then you can pick the hips when
they soften and chop them up and simmer them in liquid honey.
Strain the hips from the honey and rebottle the honey for use in herbal
teas or drizzle over fruit salad for a vitamin boost.
In the garden rugosa roses can be recognised by their thorny stems and glossy
veined leaves and scented blooms which range in colour from white to pink,
crimson, red and even yellow.
The hips appear, as you can see, in mid summer and continue through to autumn.
The photo shows the hedging variety called Corylus and over the next few
weeks the leaves will change into their autumnal colours perfectly complementing
the bunches of red hips.
I have never seen any rose type diseases causing a blemish on their good
looks and as such are ideal for the gardener who does not want to have a
spray regime to follow.
Our Corylus hedge is head high now and just gets a trim every now and then
to keep the thorny branches out of the way of our garden visitors.