It’s June, herbology faeries! If you’re in the northern hemisphere like me, it’s the month of warming temperatures, lengthening days, bugs and blooms, and the summer solstice. Here’s hoping for lots of energizing sunshine to brighten the days!
I have decided to try something here on the blog and concentrate my focus on one or two plants per month. (It will probably depend on the month and my mood!) So, to start off June, let’s talk about a quintessential June plant—roses!
There are many types of roses, but in culinary and body care contexts it’s best to stick with strongly scented varieties. Use wild roses if you can! (And stay away from pesticide-treated and florist-bought roses.) You can use the petals, buds, leaves, and hips (fruit) of roses.
Roses are an age-old herbal ally, and are best known to represent love. Health-wise, they are great for your heart, pain, PMS, inflammation, blood pressure, stress, anxiety, and insomnia, so that’s not hard to understand! They are great tasting and mood-elevating, too. And rose hips are incredibly rich in vitamin C and are often used as in immune system booster. Roses are considered sour, drying, and cooling, with astringent, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and nervine properties.
And now, for the fun part: a few of my favorite ways to use rose!
Rose, lavender, and chamomile tea (alone or with other additions such as green rooibos, mugwort, green tea, lemon balm, and/or dried or fresh berries)
Rose and cardamom (with or without additions like mint, nettle, cinnamon, citrus, and/or fennel) tea
Rose, mint, and cacao nib tea
Rose-infused honey
Rosewater-infused desserts (cakes, scones, cookies, fruit salads)
Dried rose petals in skincare products and loose leaf incense
Which ways do you love to incorporate rose into your botanical creations?
Sources:
“Rose Monograph.” LearningHerbs, December 28, 2016. https://herbmentor.learningherbs.com/herb/rose/#botanically-speaking/.
de la Forêt, Rosemary. Alchemy of Herbs. New York: Hay House, Inc., 2017.
The Herbology Faerie 