Herbal Mondays

The Rose

The rose has a multitude of uses.  Rose petals can be used as a delightful tea, whether the petals are white, yellow, pink or red.  You can make roses into a wine, vinegar, syrups, sorbets, jam and placed into pies! Rose petals, like the calendula flower, are edible and tasty. After washing, toss into a salad. All of these can be done at home.

A more difficult process is the distillation of the rose in rose waters.  Rose waters are delicately flavored floral waters used in food and drink.   A popular drink in India is Lassi made with Yogurt, water, and rosewater. Another absolutely delightful Indian drink is freshly squeezed lemons with rose water.

Rose petals can be “candied” and used on top of cakes and confections.  There is a candy made with rosewater called “Turkish Delight”.  Pureed re-hydrated rose hips are sweetened and mixed with lemon juiced for a lamb sauce.

There is Rose Absolute, which is not considered the purest of the essence oils. Then the Damascas Rose Essence oil which is considered very healing and settles anxiety (great for cancer patients and those who are near-death). Finally, you have the essential oil called Rose Otto, which combines both sandlewood and rose.  Rose Otto was used and is still used in the Middle East. 

For the skin, rose petals and rose water are an excellent gentle anti-wrinkle way of caring for the skin.  You can use rose petals with witch hazel for a toner (non-alcoholic, hence not drying).  When used this way, you tincture the rose petals and mix some with your witch hazel.  The alcohol in a tincture is not like Isopropyl alcohol on the skin. Use the petals as a steam as well, to heal and refresh the skin.

A lotion can be made to soften the skin with the combination of rose water, infused rose petals and glycerin.  It along with violets and lavender is one of many flowers used for skin care for centuries!

Herbal Mondays

INTRODUCTION: The ROSE is found growing wild, and it is cultivated. “The birthplace of the cultivated rose was probably northern Persia,… (Grieve, 687)” The cultivation of the rose spread widely from Persia through Mesopotamia to Palestine, and then crossed over into Asia Minor into the country of Greece.  From there, it traveled into Italy. 

Sappho (a Greek poetess) called it the “Queen of Flowers”!  Therefore, the reason for my choosing the ROSE as the Second “Queen” of the series.  It is still in the early stages of being created, so I will not reveal the painting yet!

Wild Rose. 

Family: ROSACEAE

Species: Rosa woodsii Lindl

Common Name: Wild Rose (Woods rose, rosa Silvestre)

Life Span: Perennial

Origin: Native

Season: Cool

Habitat: prairies, open woods, plateaus, on dry slopes, in ravines, and of course the thickets; it grows in
               a wide range of soils.

This type of rose is in a bush form, about 1.5 m tall or almost 4 feet. Its little branchlets are very slim and scraggly, the crown is not regular, and it flowers from May to October.  The wild reproduces through its seeds.

The hips of the flower were used in Europe as a source of vitamins A and C. The hips can be dried and ground into powder to flavor soups and also to make syrup. 

Some American tribes used the young shoots as a potherb. The leaves are made into tea. The inner bark can be smoked similar to tobacco.

You can eat the petals raw in salads; they can be candied and used on desserts.    The petals can be dried and used for perfume. (Stubbendieck, et al). 

~In my “sister” blog this week, we will explore the folklore of the Rose~

References:

Grieve, Mrs. M.  A Modern Herbal, Volume II: I-Z and Indexes. Dover Publications Inc., 1981

James Stubbendieck, Stephen L. Hatch, and Charles H. Butterfield.  North American Range Plants, 4^th Ed.University of Nebraska Press, 1992.