A Hip Garden

A Hip Garden
(C) Nandita Godbole, 2012

With one of the largest selections of cultivars and hybrids that are freely and conveniently available in the market, roses are sought after and most one of the most versatile garden plants imaginable. From tea roses, hybrids, fragrant and showy varieties to prickly ones, or trailing and climbing varieties - gardeners of all skill levels grow some kind of rose.

I remain partial to fragrant roses and climbing varieties because I grew up around several of them at my grandma’s home, as a child. Determined to inherit my grandma’s green thumb, after several failed attempts, I managed to grow two hardy yellow, knock-out roses this year. They were the inexpensive home-improvement store kind. I use the word hardy quite loosely, because except for spraying them with an herbal bug-spray twice, watering them occasionally and leaving them in the care of my nervous neighbor during my California stint – they have managed to thrive. Fragrant as can be, this is their second year in the ground. Now, that, my friend, is my kind of a hardy rose.

When growing roses, you cannot ask for a harder worker in the garden. Early this past spring I harvested the petals of about 10-12 roses (before spraying them) to make a rose petal jam. I washed the petals in clean tap water and lay them out on a towel to air dry. Then I crushed the petals into a clean jar with regular table sugar using the back of a clean spoon. I used enough sugar to cover the petals and added a pinch of saffron. I then covered the mouth of the jar with a muslin / cheese cloth and kept it outside in the sun (with 90 degree weather) for two weeks, bringing it in at night. Two weeks later, the sugar had melted and I was rewarded with one brown semi solid compote. It may not be very pretty to look at, but it brings back memories of spring with each teaspoonful.  There are many recipes online for a rose-petal jam, so, find what works for you. Select petals from roses that are pesticide free and away from street run-off, as well as street pollution and smoke. Rose petal jam consumed daily in small quantities is a healthy addition to ones’ diet and is prized in Ayurvedic medicine for its healing properties.

If you have a garden with floribunda roses, like I do, i.e. those that have multiple blooms at once or ‘an inflorescence’ i.e. a cluster of buds, resist the urge to snip them away after the blooms are spent. Simply hose them down to remove the dead petals and let them be. As the hips mature, they will change from green to a deep golden yellow and slowly 'mature' into a deeper orange red as the season progresses, often becoming red in early winter. They bring out the green of your garden in late summer and add seasonal color in early fall. Not to mention, it also gives you raw materials for making rose-hip tea, and pieces for your floral arrangements for Thanksgiving and wreaths. If you leave them on long enough on the bush they become dry and brittle in late winter. A light dusting of snow or frost on these only adds winter character, and prune and fertilize the bush in early spring for new growth and another year of fragrant colorful offerings!

What a great addition to the garden: a plant for all seasons and for the foodie in all of us!