KnowyourHerbs
Lisl Meredith Huebner, Dipl.CH (NCCAOM), RH (AHG)
A Rose By Any Other Name...
W
hen I told a friend which plant I was considering for the topic of this monograph, his reply
was, “Is Rose an herb?” That sealed the deal for me. I guess it’s about time she was acknowledged for the many levels of healing she offers. The enormous jar of pink Rose petals in my apothecary is only a partial testament to the great and varied work she does on behalf of the hu- man species. Rose is a part of our collective con-
sciousness; people think of her most of- ten when her gorgeous and fragrant blos- soms make their seasonal debut in June. Of course she is also enormously popular in February when lovers share her sensu- ous blooms in order to bring heart-felt pas- sion into a dreary, dark month. For Rose, kindling love and passion is an easy task that she has mastered long ago. The Rose, native to Asia and the Mid-
dle East originally, has been revered and respected for thousands of years; hundreds of species have been cultivated to capture various aspects of her charms. Some Roses have been bred for fragrance, while oth- ers continue to be cultivated for shape, size, and color. Many commercial Roses,
grown with durability in mind for the flo- rist market, have lost much of their scent, but have developed the refined, elongated shape that we are familiar with, such as the long stemmed red rose. In the world of Rose gardeners, there
can be a bit of snobbery when it comes to antique Roses versus the newer breeds. The classic Roses that adorn distinguished gardens are smaller, particularly fragrant and can be shrub-like or climbers. Names like ‘Madame Hardy’, 'Comte de Chambo- rd' and 'Yolande d'Aragon' have an air of pretentiousness, whereas the Jenny-come-
latelies of the Rosa family sport monikers like ‘Dolly Parton’, ‘Tropicana’, ‘Blueberry Hills’ and tend to feature unusual colors or exceptionally large blossoms.
"Once I had a rose named after me
and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the cat- alogue: "No good in a bed, but fine up against a wall."
- Eleanor Roosevelt
What are usually referred to as thorns on a Rose are actually called prickles, a thorn is really a modified stem, whereas a prickle is an extension or outgrowth of the outer tissue of the stem. The purpose of the hook-shaped pricker is to help the Rose climb toward the light and to discourage animals from browsing, although they don’t dissuade the deer very often.
"We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses."
- Abraham Lincoln
The petals or buds of the Rosa cen- tifolia or Rosa damascena varieties are
www.naturalnutmeg.com
June 2010
39
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56