It’s the season!!!! Vibrant, fragrant wild rose blossoms decorate the underbrush all over my acreage.
Roses (as herbs) are soothing and therapeutic to the mind and body. We are talking the untamed, undomesticated, uncultivated, wily, wanton, and wild rose.
In herbal medicine, the petals and fruit (rosehips) of the wild rose are equally valued. Rose petals are mildly sedative, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-parasitic. They’re also mild laxatives, a good supportive tonic for the heart, and great for lowering cholesterol. The antiseptic nature of rose petals makes them a wonderful treatment for wounds, bruises, rashes, and incisions. Taken internally, their anti-inflammatory properties make them a wonderful treatment for sore throats or ulcers. They can stimulate the liver and increase appetite and circulation. Rose can also lower your body temperature and help bring down a fever or cool you off in the summer. As an anti-spasmodic, it helps relieve spasms in the respiratory system (asthma and coughs), in the intestinal tract (cramping, constipation), and in the muscles (cramps and sports injuries). Adding its antiviral qualities, you’ve got an entire medicine chest in one herb.
The benefits don’t stop there, however! Rose petals are an emmenagogue, which means this herb can help regulate and bring on delayed menstrual cycles. They’re also a uterine tonic for healing cysts, infections, and bleeding. And, just like the essential oil, rose petals are a nervine; they help soothe and calm the nervous system, easing tension and pain. Once the flower has run its course, we’re left with rosehips, or the fruit of the rose. Rosehips are wonderful little packages that are delicious in teas or even substituted for your favorite fruit in recipes for preserves. High in vitamin C, also containing vitamins A, B3, D, and E, rosehips are an effective nutritive. Rosehips are a strong antioxidant, protecting you from the ravaging effects of the free radicals that are a part of any urban lifestyle. Rosehips also contain iron, which is therapeutic for anemia as well as for easing pain and discomfort during one’s monthly cycle. Their flavonoid content makes rosehips strong antioxidants that protect the body from free radicals. Their anti-inflammatory nature helps soothe all kinds of pain, including arthritis, gout, and sore muscles.
Interesting Fact: I picked rose hips every summer from age 8-13 for a local herbalist who made his own vitamin C. He paid me $2 for an ice cream pail of rose hips.
Rose Tea One batch of rose petal tea can have many uses. For your base infusion, pour 1 cup boiling water over 2 to 4 teaspoons of dried rose petals. Cover and steep for 10 to 15 minutes. Apply that base tea to either of the following: Cough and Cold Remedy Blend the base tea with 1 or 2 teaspoons of honey (a natural sore-throat soother and cough suppressant), plus a drop of lemon oil to taste. This works wonders for a stubborn cough, especially one that’s kept you up for a few nights. Digestive Tonic When you’re not feeling well, a strong tea full of tannins is helpful in treating diarrhea and bladder infections. Use a teaspoon more of the dried herb than usual and drink a cup without milk or sweetener. Repeat every 45 minutes to an hour, as needed. If the diarrhea is especially uncomfortable, you may bring on faster relief by adding a dash of black tea to the rose petals.
Rose-hip Tea Use 4 teaspoons dried hips or 4 tablespoons fresh per cup of water and simmer on low heat for 5 minutes. This makes a tangy, sour tea loaded with vitamin C. For a little variation, pour this hot infusion over 1 teaspoon spearmint leaves or toss a little ginger in with the hips while simmering. This tea is great chilled or heated, depending on how you feel. There’s nothing like rosehip and ginger tea laced with stevia and a splash of vanilla oat milk to perk up in any situation!
Discover all the ways to use your Rose Essential Oil No roses growing in your yard? Not to worry, And we have the absolute best Rose Essential Oil!!!!
I've heard it takes 5,000 lbs of rose petals to make 1 lb of rose oil. This is an impressive number, realistically, can you visualize what 5,000 lbs of rose petals looks like? I can't! Here's what Erica Miller says in her book "Day Spa Techniques": "It takes 30 roses to make one drop of rose oil, or 60,000 petals per ounce." Thirty roses = one drop. Note: If you discover that your rose oil has "crystallized" with the lid on securely, don't panic! You have NOT lost a really valuable bottle of oil, simply hold the oil bottle in a closed fist for a few minutes and the warmth of your hand will de-crystallize the oil. It is common for the rose oil to crystallize.
Scar-B-Gone Recipe 10 drops Helichrysum, 6 drops Lavender, 8 drops, Lemongrass, 4 drops Patchouly and 5 drops Myrrh, 1 d rose oil mixed with 1 ounce V-6. Put the oils in your bottle as they are listed, starting with Helichrysum first. Gently swirl after adding each oil. Swirl them together well then add V-6. Swirl again. Don't change the order of oils as it will change what it is made for.
My Favorite Summer Salad Wild Rose Petal Salad 1/2 cup of plain Greek yogurt 1/4 cup fresh picked raspberries 1/4 cup fresh picked rose petals. Drizzle with organic maple syrup. Enjoy!!!! Intoxicatingly delightful to the tastebuds
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“You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses.” Why do roses have thorns? This question can be understood & answered in two ways, philosophically & scientifically. Philosophically, roses are associated with beauty & love, the thorns, remind us of things that are beautiful, yet may have some hurt attached to it. This is an important lesson of life. The flowers of the rosebush are beautiful & lovely to look at, they are also very delicate. The petals fall off or dry up very easily. The fragrant aroma of the rose is intoxicating & uplifting. Needless to say love, just like a rose, requires proper care & nourishment. Love gives us so much joy & wonderful life experiences & we must remember it also comes with great responsibilities. Rose thorns & prickles are a protective adaptation to keep animals from destroying the roses as well as the rosebush. Prickles ward off predators. The scientific reason why rosebushes are filled with thorns, explains this phenomenon as a natural defence mechanism of the plant. Structures such as thorns make it difficult for animals to come along and take a bite without a painful lesson. Before men started to cross roses, the plants used to grow like wild brambles along the ground and some grew like a large raspberry bush. Thorns also helped them get to the sun by catching onto the branches of a tree. No matter how they grew, the thorns served as protection. Although the fragrance of the rose is primarily to attract insects, animals are also attracted by the smell & that puts the rose bushes in danger of being consumed by some herbivorous animal. Thorns on a rose bush develop much before the actual flower. This happens because buds & young roses might be eaten away by animals before the flowers get a chance to spread their pollen with the help of insects. Something to think about from which we can get many lessons. "Perhaps it is safe to conclude, “a life with love will have some thorns; however, a life without love will have no roses."
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