Does anyone else nibble on their hips when processing seed? Some varieties seem to have some sweetness, others are crunchy, others have a nice citrus flavor/aroma. I wonder if a determined breeder could come up with something pleasant to eat off the bush.
The big issue is getting rid of those hairs inside the hip, or reducing them to enough of a degree that one could safely and easily eat the hips. Are there any roses that have significantly less of that itchy, hairy stuff?
If I remember right, Hansa doesn’t have much of those hairs inside but it’s been a while since I’ve opened one.
Joe,
A fair amount of research/breeding programs has been done to develop rose hips as a commercial fruit crop. Currently, there is one being done in Atlantic Canada with native species.
In your location, Rosa canina and Rosa villosa are likely cold hardy or close to it. They are very good species to grow for rose hips.
This summer I happened to come cross thickets of Rosa woodsii and among them were a few shrubs of Rosa villosa. It’s a mystery how this happened (Rosa villosa is rarely grown on the Canadian Prairies). Of course, thinking that the two species might have hybridized with each other, I collected nearly all the Rosa villosa hips for their seed. If you want some, let me know.
That’s actually one of Ralph Moore’s ideas he dabbled with for some years. Nothing formal, like his pink and yellow flowered, fruiting strawberries. I’ve nibbled hips off and on for years. The two best tasting I’ve encountered are from Sharon’s Delight and Cl. Winifred Coulter. Both actually have fruit-like elements to the tastes of their hip flesh. Sharon is a friend and has long chuckled about my “nibbling her hips”. Kim
Old Blush has a good amount of flesh on it’s hips, they taste ok and have no hairs inside. I suspect the ancient Chinese put some effort into making it a food source.
I’ve thought some about breeding for edible hips, the concern that they may not be unique enough to displace existing fruiting crops did occur to me, but rose hips have a good reputation in organic food circles so I think if we created a good rose hip product people would buy it.
The interesting thing about edible rose hips and also leaves, to me though, is that there are several roses that have extreme salt tolerance. I would like to have a fruiting plant that if given something to float upon could grow on the ocean. The ocean covers 2/3 of the world’s surface. That would be a lot of food, maybe enough to feed the world’s ballooning human population.
Hi Charles,
I’m curious & interested in ‘salt tolerant’ roses, mainly as salt is encroaching on farm land here in Australia. Can you name any of these tolerant roses or species roses to give a starting point?
Thanks
Rod
Rugosas are pretty tolerant of seaside conditions and I guess salt. They’ve naturalized here along the east and west coastlines in America. I find their hips tasty, you just don’t bite all the way in, just eat the flesh down to the small film that contains the itchy hairs and seeds. Some hips can be huge.
What are the hips Hungarian/Sloveian/Russian producers use for rose hip jam and juice nectar that I see at a local Euro product stores?
Rugosas and Spinosissimas are known to live on ocean beaches. Some types of Multiflora, Californica, and Nitida have also been reported to live within a few feet of the ocean. There are probably others as well that I don’t know about.
Do search variations of “salt tolerant roses” inside rose forums and on the web to piece together the bits of information available.
The really good hips here are from R. woodsii ultramontana. They’re too small to eat but they make a wonderful tea.
HMF has a good article on rose hips,
Link: www.helpmefind.com/gardening/ezine.php?publicationID=251&js=0