is for Roses–
“scattered at the feasts of Flora …”

I intended to write all about roses. I intended to offer general descriptions of species roses, modern roses, Old World types, and native species. Then I realized I would be taking on a monumental project, much too broad for the scope of this book. Besides, there are already a great many books on roses, and my knowledge is fairly minimal concerning rose culture. I really do strive to write about what I know, what I’ve experienced. So the tone of the chapter is altered from the original idea.

But I’m still writing about roses. However, since you likely know what a rose looks like (and smells like), I won’t bother you with a description; you can ogle the nursery catalogs for kicks. Instead, and in honor of the Roman goddess of all things flowery, I’m going to tell you about some of the ways roses are used for physical and spiritual healing and for culinary delight.

Can You Really Eat Roses?

As long as they’re not dusted or sprayed (why do people use such poisons?) or planted down the median strip of a busy boulevard, all rose petals are safe to consume. Some roses are more fragrant than others; modern hybrids, bred for color and form, are hardly scented at all—go figure! Anyway, most recipes using rose petals for food will tell you to snip off the whitish base of the petal to remove any bitterness, but if I’m using rose petals for cosmetic purposes, I don’t bother with this step. When I made rose petal syrup, I snipped a whole quart of these dainties, and it seemed like more trouble than it was worth. It’s a good idea to pick out the ants and spiders though; I have found gorgeous spiders among rose petals—some a creamy white color, others a pale celery green. Although spiders are my friends, I do not want them in my food or on my body. I’ve seen some gruesome-looking spiders while living in Florida—these babies were pan-sized! But I digress ...

The delightfully fragrant roseberry tea (see page 266 in “T is for Tea”) goes well with hot biscuits spread with butter and the following easy-to-make confection.

Rose Petal Honey

Gently press 1 pint cleaned rose petals into the bottom of a saucepan. Pour room-temperature honey into the pan to cover the petals, about 2 cups honey or more if necessary, and slowly heat over low until the honey is just warm, a few minutes only; too much heat destroys the healthful enzymes. Put this sticky mixture into a clean jar and close tightly. Store at room temperature for about 2 weeks to allow the flavors to meld. Reheat honey again over low heat by placing the jar in a small pan of water (like a double boiler); after it softens, strain out the petals and recap immediately. You could also start over again and make a batch of double-infused honey for more flavor. This recipe can be used with any number of edible flowers—see page 134, “F is for Flowers,” for ideas. If you have the time and inclination, you could heat the honey in its jar in the warm sun for these procedures.

Red rose petal honey was once an official United States Pharmacopeia remedy for sore throats. I’ll bet it has a lot fewer side effects than all those OTC remedies.

In addition to rose petal honey, you might try your hand at jam. Since I have never made it, I’ll refer you to Stalking the Healthful Herbs by Euell Gibbons, who offers an easy recipe for freezer jam. Says Gibbons, “I have tried many other recipes for rose petal jam, but this one is easily the best of them all.” He then goes on to mention hot biscuits and crepes as a useful repository for this jam. I recall a plant identification class I gave for some homeschoolers and their moms, where we served elderflower fritters dipped in this beautiful jam, given as a gift by a neighbor, with a taste invoking heaven on earth; the kids and I picked a bunch of wild greens for salad too, but that’s another story.

Gibbons also offers an ingenious method for distilling your own rose flower water. If you’d rather buy it (usually a product of France, Bulgaria, or Lebanon), you’ll find that it’s used in the kitchens of many Middle Eastern cooks as a flavoring, in much the same way as vanilla extract is used. Another yummy way to use rose water is in a peach-yogurt smoothie. What follows is a recipe for a delicate cookie featuring rose flower water.

Rose-Almond Cookie Drops

½ cup butter (1 stick)

1⁄3 cup sugar (powdered sugar makes them crispier)

1 egg

¼ cup ground almonds

¾ cup unbleached or whole wheat pastry flour

A pinch of salt

1 teaspoon rose flower water

Pinch of ground mace or cardamom

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Blend butter and sugar until smooth. Add egg, mixing well. Blend the almonds, flour, and salt in a separate bowl, then add to butter mixture; finally, add the rose water and spice. Drop well apart by half-teaspoonfuls on a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10–15 minutes. Let them sit a couple of minutes before removing to a rack to cool. Makes about 1½ dozen.

Good on the Outside, Too

Rose flower water is frequently used for cosmetic purposes. Diluted with distilled water one part to five, it can be used as a soothing eye wash. On the skin, plain undiluted rose water is astringent and moisturizing. Combined with a bit of vegetable glycerin, it offers emollient and humectant properties. In reference to the skin, astringents tighten the pores and emollients soothe and soften; humectants preserve moisture content.

Another method of preserving the fragrance and healing properties of rose petals is to make a vinegar extract (see page 277, “V is for Vinegar,” for step-by-step procedures). Apple cider vinegar is in and of itself a healthful food, and it is antiseptic to some microorganisms. The following extract is very easy to make, and you can add other botanicals that might be available at the same time.

Rose Petal Vinegar

Pick a full pint of fresh rose petals (mid- to late morning is the best time to pick; the dew has dried and the fragrance is coming on). You may also wish to include small amounts of these extras: plantain leaf, heal-all herb, strawberry leaf and/or fruit, chickweed, comfrey leaf and/or root, elder flowers, and/or a few red clover blossoms. After you’ve picked and sorted, pack these botanicals into a clean quart jar and slowly pour room-temperature vinegar over this to cover completely. I usually use apple cider vinegar, but plain white vinegar will also work. Cover the jar first with waxed paper and then the lid in order to avoid corrosion with the metal. Be sure to label and date. Shake well, and set in a window to steep. Shake every day for 10 to 14 days, after which time you can strain out the soggy herbs and put them in the compost. I usually strain through cloth to get all the particles out (do not squeeze); you could also use a coffee filter, although this could take a while. Decant into a pretty bottle and label.

I use this vinegar as a skin freshener on my face, a body splash in the shower (the vinegar smell dissipates, friends), on my hair, or in a bath or foot soak, which is very softening to the skin. Women can use it as a vaginal douche, diluted to a ratio of 1 tablespoon vinegar to 1 quart water (you best be sure the vinegar is well strained). This combined flower and herb vinegar is very soothing when added to the children’s evening bath after a hard day’s play. It can be diluted with water and used as a body wash during illness or fever, and soaked on a soft cloth and laid to the forehead to help ease a headache, especially if you’re overheated.

Back to beverages—if you make the above recipe with cider vinegar and just the rose petals, you can use it to make a refreshing glass of rosy-ade. In a tall glass, dissolve a pinch or two of sugar in 2 tablespoons rose vinegar, then finish off with plenty of ice and water to fill the glass; very refreshing. There are several recipes using rose petals (and even the leaves) for making wine and liqueur. I expect the bouquet would be fascinating and unique. The bibliography lists several books with reference to herbal wines and liqueurs.

Returning to rose cosmetics, the following recipe for a fragrant body splash is adapted from one found in The Encyclopedia of Herbs and Herbalism, edited by Malcolm Stuart.

“Ancient” Spice Perfume

2 cups (1 pint) rose water (I see no reason why you couldn’t make a rose petal infusion)

½ ounce whole cloves

5 bay leaves

2 cups white wine vinegar

Combine all ingredients in a non-corrosive saucepan, and simmer for a few minutes. Place hot liquid and spices in a quart jar and cool for about 20 minutes. Next, cover with waxed paper and then the lid. Shake the jar every few days and steep for 6 weeks. Strain thoroughly, and use as for any other type of body splash. It also makes a good aftershave—yes, guys, it’s okay to smell like roses with your Old Spice. We love it.

Dried rose petals are often a main ingredient in potpourri, and are also used in herbal sleep or dream pillows (see “X is for Xanadu,” page 294). The leaves of wild roses are fragrant, too, and can also be used in these pillows. Rose leaves have been used in healing poultices on wounds, and the petals have even been used in blending tobacco snuff.

These are certainly not all the ways you can enjoy and appreciate roses. There are hundreds of literary and poetic references to roses, some of which are explored in The Symbolic Rose by Barbara Seward. There is a wonderful guided meditation involving rose imagery called “The Golden Wedding Garment” found in How to See and Read the Aura by Ted Andrews.

Do the Hippy-Hippy Shake

Rosehips are the fruit of the rose plant. They are somewhat egg-shaped or rounded and can be as small as your kid’s pinky fingernail or large as your own thumbnail, depending upon the species; they are red when ripe. All rosehips are edible and safe, providing they’re not sprayed, etc. The hips of the hardy Rugosa rose are large and brilliant, and they are known for their high vitamin C content. Rosehips ripen in the fall, and the best time to pick rosehips for food purposes is after a light frost, which sweetens them up a bit. If you intend to dry them in a basket for future use, try to get them before the frost, and be sure to keep them in a single layer with plenty of air circulation. You may, in fact, find it necessary to cover them with a piece of cheesecloth, since I have witnessed the gross surprise (and heard this from others as well) of mistaking a maggot for a rose seed, only to discover the whole yukky thing was crawling with them …uggh (and the chickens went wild)! Perhaps a food dehydrator would help, and I recommend splitting the hips in half so they don’t get too hard on the outside before the inside dries as well.

A Simple Rosehip Tea Blend to Enjoy During Winter

Take 1 cup dried rosehip pieces, ¼ cup dried lemon balm leaves, and ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon. Mix in a jar, and use 1 teaspoon to a teacup of boiling water; steep 15 minutes, strain, and sweeten with honey if desired.

The following chilled soup recipe has its origins in Scandinavia, where fresh fruit is esteemed and cherished. It is adapted from a similar recipe found in the perennial classic Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer.

Rosehip Soup

Crush 2 cups fresh, cleaned rosehips (no brown petals) in a stainless steel or enameled pan, and cover with 1 quart water. Bring to a boil, then put on a low simmer, covered, for about 45 minutes. You will want to stir and mash the fruit around some during this time. Strain carefully into another saucepan. Add enough orange juice to return the liquid to 1 quart (you could also use other juices such as apple or raspberry). Mix 1 tablespoon cornstarch with a bit of the juice and about ¼ cup sugar, or to taste. Add to saucepan and simmer, stirring often, until the mixture thickens, just a few minutes, then remove from heat. Chill thoroughly and garnish with a dab of yogurt or sour cream and toasted, slivered almonds. For variety, you could add a little pinch of cinnamon or cardamom toward the end of the initial simmering time.

For a sweet rosehip syrup, follow the procedure in “The Kitchen Apothecary” under the section Herbal Syrups and Elixirs on page 14.

I’m sure you will find many decorative and charming uses for the following crafty idea. And remember, if you’re ever hungry, you can always eat your necklace.

The Original Love Beads

Create them with rosehips. First, pick enough hips to fill a large soup bowl. Second, be sure there are no thorns or spines on them, and clean off any remnants of sepal and flower (brown leafy stuff). Third, with a heavy thread (some folks use fishing line) and large sharp needle, carefully string the hips, one at a time, onto the thread, loosely tying off the end. Don’t bunch them too close together, but be sure to take into consideration that they will shrink a little, so make sure the strand will be long enough to fit around your head. Hang the string of rosehips near a wood stove or other warm place to dry. Once they do, you can pull the string a little tighter so there are no spaces between the hips. Alternatively, you could use glass beads or other spacers between the hips when stringing them from the start to create an unusual original piece. If you make the string extra long, you can use it as a decorative garland and string other twigs, cones, and sturdy leaves randomly between the hips—very pretty and very groovy.

It is my intention, through presenting this information, to give you something to look forward to each spring—and fall. Having these rose recipes on hand for when the flowers bloom and their fruits ripen will give you ample time, I hope, to prepare for the busy season ahead. So enjoy, and watch out for those spiders.

(By the way, the title quote comes from Mrs. M. Grieve in her classic compendium A Modern Herbal, in reference to the ancient Roman festival of Floralia, honoring the goddess Flora.)