Most of us choose roses for their color, their scintillating scents and their fabulous forms. But have you sorted your roses by the subtle differences of their hips?

 

Just as the scents and colors of the flowers vary, the hips also vary by color, sweetness, tartness and flavor.

 

Wild and cultivated roses have been treasured for thousands of years, and for just as long, frugal foragers have gathered the hips as they mature in late fall and early winter to use in treasured tea, jelly and conserve recipes.

 

All roses produce fruits called hips. While rose petals are also edible and prized for candies and jellies, the hips of the rose are like small, smooth berries filled with seeds, with brown or green bracts, which remain after the petals have fallen. As they ripen, 

rose hips turn from pale to deep orange or red.

 

Rose hips vary just as much as the rest of the rose. Many tame (as opposed to wild) roses produce large hips, which can be much sweeter than the hips from wild rugosa roses.

 

Color is not an indicator of flavor. In your own garden, you may find that a bright-red hip is not as flavorful as a smaller, lighter-colored hip. And another variety may have a pleasant tartness that you like. As with any palette of colors or flavors, try personalizing blends to balance fragrance, color, sweetness and acidity. A rose tasting might be 

in order to assess the full palette of your treasures.

 

Experimentation is definitely called for to determine which rose hips you prefer to mix with honey for your morning muffin, and which you prefer for your pick-me-up cup of tea in the afternoon.

 

Another benefit of rose hips is their high content of vitamin C. Rose hip conserve made with your own rose hips and local honey can supplement your vitamin C sources in the dark winter months. Rose hips are also high in bioflavonoids and pectin, a healthful fiber source.

 

During the Second World War, Americans were encouraged to become as self-sufficient as possible. Many families grew so-called Victory Gardens, and the U. S. Department of Agriculture not only advised gardeners to plant and grow staple crops, but also advised them how to harvest and use rose hips.

 

To make your own fragrant conserve, gather well-ripened rose hips. Good choices include the wild hips from Rosa rugosa with its deep pink or white five-petaled flower, and the pasture rose (Rosa carolina) with pale pink flowers. Eglantine rose (Rosa eglantaria), also called sweetbriar rose, is a tried and true variety, but experiment with 

what you have available.

 

Pulverize the hips with a mortar and pestle to obtain a good red puree. With a wooden spoon, rub the puree through a sieve to remove the seeds, which are also called pips.

 

Mix the sieved puree with about half as much honey. Because honey is such a fine preservative, this uncooked conserve usually keeps well for at least a couple of weeks, and is wonderful as a spread on toast or muffins. With the dried pips, you can make rose hip tea. Steep them long enough to get a deep color, then sweeten to taste.

 

Another old but simple recipe to try with your rose hips is a chilled, sweetened soup. These soups may seem odd to us, but they were essential to winter health in the days before storebought vitamins.

 

For this recipe you will need four cups of ripe rose hips for four servings. Cover the rose hips with water in a saucepan, bring to a boil and boil for ten minutes. Strain through cheesecloth, discard the hips and return the strained liquid to the saucepan. Add enough water to make four cups. Add one cup of sugar, bring to a boil and take the pan off the heat. Mix two tablespoons cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water and stir into the soup. Return the pan to medium heat, and cook until clear and lightly thickened. Cool the soup, then chill it. Serve this gorgeous rosy-hued treat in small bowls with a dollop of whipped cream and be grateful you are making time to smell the roses.

 

But wait! What if your rose bushes don’t have hips?

 

Rose hips only develop on roses that are left on the bush, so if you are a fanatic deadheader, removing spent blossoms to encourage bushes to keep blooming, you are sacrificing future hips. But a happy medium is certainly possible. Foregoing a few extra blossoms for a jar of your own dried rosehips may extend your pleasure through the winter until the roses are blooming again.