Rose - The fragrant healer
Margaret Roberts writes about the use of the rose from ancient
times to the present in her popular book, ‘Edible and Medicinal
Flowers’.
The
rose is without doubt the most loved of all flowers across the
world. Roses date back thousands of years, and through the centuries
have been revered for both their fragrance and their medicinal
and cosmetic properties. Both the ancient Greeks and Romans used
both rose petals and hips in cooking and preserved the petals
in vinegar. The Romans used the rose for ceremonial purposes and
built the first hot houses to ensure blooms all year round, controlling
the temperature with pipes of hot water.
MEDICINAL USES
Rose petal tea has a calming, tranquillising effect. To make the
tea, pour 1 cup of boiling water over a cup of fresh, unsprayed
rose petals. Leave to stand for 5 minutes. Strain and enjoy. Sweeten
with a touch of honey if liked.
Rose-water
dates back to AD 980-1037, when the Arab physician Avicenna used
it to treat skin ailments and mixed it with honey for use as a
cough syrup. Boil 6 cups of rose petals, a small twist of lemon
rind and 4 cloves gently in a litre of water for 15 minutes, with
the lid on. Remove from the heat, strain and pour into glass bottles
with screw tops. Rose-water may be splashed on the outside of
the eyes in cases of conjunctivitis. It has an antiseptic and
soothing quality and can be used even on sensitive skins.
Rosa gallica, which is native to the Middle East, was used in
the Middle Ages as a treatment for depression and anxiety and
to aid circulation. Modern medical research has proven these properties
and the precious rose oil, known as attar of roses, is used nowadays
in aromatherapy for these very same ailments.
The rose hip forms once the petals have fallen and the swollen
calyx ripens, and can be used in cough mixtures, syrups, jellies
and jams. Its high vitamin C content as well as fruit acids, and
betacarotene, pectin and tannin content boosts the body's immune
system and makes an excellent tonic that will give energy and
vitality and strengthen the artery walls, thus aiding circulation.
CULTIVATION
There is a rose for every type of garden and for every gardener's
taste. My favourite roses, however, are the old-fashioned roses
of which the exquisite, fragrant, shell-pink Margaret Roberts
is a member (see top photograph).
Roses ask for very little - all they need is a large, deep hole
in the full sun, filled with compost and a sprinkling of the moisture
absorbent crystals that will keep the plant from drying out.
It requires a deep, twice weekly watering, feeding with an organic
fertiliser two or three times a year and a good mulch of compost
during the winter. Pruning is essential in midwinter and deadheading
should never be neglected to ensure masses of blooms.
Recipes for Rose Hip Syrup, Rose Petal Cream
Jelly, Rose Punch and Rose Petal Syrup appear in "Edible and Medicinal
Flowers", which is published and distributed by Random House Struik.
