If you think of basil or thyme when you hear the word “herb,” you are not alone. Most people think of plants that are used to flavor their favorite dishes. The word herb, however, has a broader meaning: Any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume.
Using that definition it is no surprise to find that roses are herbs. They have been used as medicine and perfume for centuries. They also have a long, although no longer common, history of use as food. You might remember hearing that rose hips (the rose seed pod) is a good source of vitamin C as well as the primary ingredient in Rose Hip Jelly. It’s no wonder the National Herb Society picked roses to honor this year as Herb of the Year!
Here at the nursery we’ve been working on our rose collection. We’re happy to have Western native roses to sell this spring. One, Rosa stellata, the desert rose from New Mexico, is an excellent rose to use in a xeric garden. It has big pink flowers and only grows to about 2′ tall and 2′ wide.
We also have the Colorado native, Rosa woodsii. Rosa woodsii is a taller rose, 4′ tall in optimum conditions, that can spread into quite a large clump. It has a smaller flower and is native to Rye, Beulah, La Veta, and many other areas in Southern Colorado. It tolerates quite a bit of shade in my garden and still flowers and sets seed. It actually produce a good crop of hips each year that can be collected in the fall for jelly or left for the birds.
If you want to read more about cooking with roses, check out Jim Long’s blog http://herboftheyear.blogspot.com/
Check back soon to see the rose section of our online catalog! And thanks to Wikimedia and the Jardín Botánico, Madrid, for the picture of Rosa stellata.
