Wild Rose

 The Wild Roses are in bloom. I snapped this picture on my way to work this morning. My first sighting was after spending the afternoon with Christy and Mandy making herbal concoctions for the CSA. I was lucky to spot a large briar of roses in the ditch and Mandy and I quickly agreed to return the following week for some wildcrafting.

 

The namesake plant of our apothecary means a lot to me as I've been an admirer of it since my childhood. I was always so proud growing up in Iowa, the lucky state to adopt it as it's state flower back in 1897 and though we have many species that grow native here in Iowa, it's the Wild Prairie Rose that is my favorite. It's special to me for many reasons and has come to represent my home during my 10 years of travel, wanderlust, vagabonding and the ever impending homesickness. When I moved back to Iowa 2 years ago I looked forward to getting to know my old friend once again.

It's as magical a plant as they come with healing properties that span the flower, rose hip (the fruit) and the foliage.  The petals are high in polyphenols, B vitamins and bioflavanoids. The rose hips are famous for their Vitamin C content but they also contain vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, K and E, Niacin, Bioflavanoids, polyphenols and heart healthy pectin. The tale of rose hips spans many cultures and sailors were said to have drank rose hip tea to ward off scurvy during long trips at sea. Rose is also an astringent, anti-inflamatory, anti-bacterial, a pain killer and fantastic for sunburned skin, eczema, dermititis, hives, poison ivy, irritated eyes and bug bites.

We here at Wild Rose Apothecary hope you are as excited as we are for all the marvelous concoctions we will be preparing for you all this summer with the aid of such a giving plant.

kiva, rose. "the allies: Rose." herbmentor.com. N.p., 10 may 2010. Web. 31 May 2013.