How to Identify Rose Hips
Rose hips are the swollen ovaries of the rose, which contain rose seeds. Rose hips are sold in health food stores, usually in capsule form, as they are very high in vitamin C. When collecting rose hips to propagate roses, keep track of which breed the hips come from, especially if you have many different breeds growing in your rose garden. If you are harvesting the rose hips for vitamin or medicinal purposes, there is no need to keep track of which breed the hips come from. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Allow the roses to die off on the plants. When the roses are deadheaded, you stop the hips from forming. "Deadheading" refers to the process of cutting off all blooms before they become spent; it is done to encourage more blooming. When the hips form, the rose bush reduces the production of blooms to concentrate its energy on forming the fruit (rose hips).
-
2
Look for oval-shaped sacs that form on the rose bushes. The rose hips are colorful, and if left on the bushes in the winter, they give the garden a splash of color. The oval-shaped sacs are filled with rose seeds.
-
-
3
Check the color of the rose hips. The rose hips are usually red to orange, but some species may put out purple to black rose hips. Some roses are grown because their rose hips are ornamental---the Rosa moyesii is one such example. Its hips are large, red and shaped like bottles.
-
1
