If you are using 'dog rose' hips for their vitamin C content, it helps to stew them first and drain off the liquid because there are lots of little hairs around the seeds. Strain it through a fine mesh - a bit tighter than for flour. (Proceed as if you are going to make either rose hip syrup or jelly. About the same quantity of water.) You could probably use R rugosa hips also. They're far less fiddly to skin and clean! A peaceful job for by the fire in mid- to late autumn. Catch them while they're still fleshy and before they 'mummify' on the bush over winter.

We sure did not know triple_b ! You would be welcome Florence. You can just pick a little amount of rose petals during the summer (Zephy is a good choice!) and keep them in small bags in the freezer until you have enough to make the jam). Btw Here is another great link for all the rose products one´s heart can desire. (Including the Rose Petal Jam). Best Rose Oil, Water (Get the little atomizer!). I use the Rose Oil in aromatherapy lamps and it scents the house those winter days when I long for roses and summer and read rose books. Do check this link there is lots of information and pictures about the production of Bulgarian rose products. Here is a link that might be useful: Bulgarian Rose Oil and products

Here are some photos. we had 3 inches of snow and lows down to 16 last week- so it's shrugged that off all right- tho the hips look a bit frost bitten. I apologize about the lack of clear flower pictures- these were taken sometime in late august- more as an inventory than for beauty. I found about 5 thorns on this whole bush today- half were very thin.. Interestingly they are all on one cane ( the one in the floral shot). There are none other on the rest of the plant. I was thinking some kind of pavement rose or rugosa cross, but I don't know. It did suffer some cane die back last year and our winter only got down to 10 degrees twice. So it's not pure rugosa.

ann beck 8a ruralish WA How does your soil look like, being high in iron? The top layer of my soil is black and rock hard clay, but the lowest layer is lighter color clay (orangish), and red roses do well here. Red roses like Double Delight & Munstead Wood both have a higher need for iron. I check the web, and it stated: "The most distinctive characteristic of an iron-rich soil is a ruddy orange or red color, though not all red soils are rich in iron. When the iron deposits in the soil oxidize, they turn a distinctive rust color that tints the soil red. " In early summer when the stems of cut-blooms are softer, they wilt easily if I use acidic rain. My cut-blooms always last longer in my alkaline tap water at pH 9, rather than acidic rain water. My tap water leaves whitish calcium and hard magnesium deposits on pots. We have hard well water, and our soil is high in dolomitic rocks (calcium plus magnesium). In the fall when the stems are harder, cut blooms can tolerate acidic rain water better with less wilting. Below are some recent cut blooms this Sept. 2022. Dark red are Munstead Wood, it's a constant bloomer as 8th-year own root, light pink is Princess Charlene d. Monaco (4th-year own-root), and whites are 12th-year own-root Mary Magdalene, lowest ruffled pink are Augusta Luis: The Dark Lady (red), Tchaikosky (light yellow), and Sweet Mademoiselle (salmon) are heavy bloomers this Sept. Tchaikosky is 4.5" across and Sweet M is 4". They are fertilized with biochar at pH 8.6 which supplies calcium and potassium for large blooms.