How to Harvest Wild Rose Petals

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27-11-2020, 13:20
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Wild roses that grow alongside ditches and forest paths provide more than just a splash of color on your woodland walk; they’re also excellent ingredients for tea, facial sprays, decorations, and culinary dishes. Begin by harvesting roses during your local areas blooming season. Your local resources should be able to tell you when wild roses bloom. If you choose not to use these resources, be on the look out for local roses when their blooms begin to open.

Harvesting Your Petals

  1. Know when you should harvest the petals. Wild rose petals are commonly harvested to make tea, jellies and jams but they can also be used in sandwich spreads, omelets, syrup and salads. The best time to harvest wild rose petals is early in the summer when roses are in full bloom.
    • However, as mentioned above, some areas will have roses that bloom at different times throughout the year. Run an internet search to find out when roses generally bloom in your area.
  2. Look your blooms over before harvesting the petals. Be cautious about where the wild rose petals are harvested. Pesticides and herbicides are often sprayed on wild roses growing along roadsides or other public areas. Automobile exhaust will also contaminate wild roses growing along highways. Be sure to find wild roses in an area that is free of these chemicals.
    • Avoid blooms from plants that are infested with bugs or diseases. Be selective when choosing petals; a few bad petals can ruin an entire afternoon worth of work.
  3. Select rose flowers that are at their peak and have not yet begun to fade. Pick your rose petals early in the morning. To pick the petals, simply hold the rose stem with one hand, gather the petals together in the other hand and pull them off.
  4. Be careful not to bruise the petals by holding them too tightly. Pinch the white tips of the petals between your finger and thumb and tear them off the stem. These white tips where the petal was attached to the flower stem have a bitter flavor. Place the petals into a bag to carry them home.
  5. Make sure to leave some blooms behind. Wild roses generally have five petals per bloom. When picking blooms, don’t pick all the blooms from each plant. Leave some to be propagated for next year.

Cleaning Your Petals

  1. Put your harvested petals in a container. Place the petals you pick into a container or colder, as you will have to wash them once you get them home.
    • Make sure you use a container that is sturdy enough that it will protect your petals from getting squished.
  2. Rinse the petals. If you have not already done so, place your rose petals in a colander or strainer. Rinse your rose petals under a gentle stream of water.
    • Doing this will help to remove the petals of dirt, pollen, and bugs.
  3. Place your petals on a paper towel. Place your petals on a paper towel so that they are not overlapping. Spacing the petals out will promote airflow so that the petals can dry more quickly and will not get stuck together.
    • Press the petals lightly with another paper towel. However, be careful not to crush or bruise the petals.
  4. Decide what you will do with your petals. If you’re planning to use the petals immediately in your cooking or to create rose water, you can use your petals now. If you would like to preserve them, dry them in a safe place, or use a dehydrator to dry them in three hours.
    • You can tell that petals are dry when they are no longer soft to the touch.

Tips

  • Dried petals can be used to create decoration or crushed to remove the oils. Rose oil is an excellent fragrance and will compliment face creams, body mists, and other natural oils well.

Things You’ll Need

  • Gloves
  • A container
  • A strainer
  • Paper towels or dehydrator
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