oh the roses were shining and sparking with a hint of morning dew this morning.

I waited a few hours until the petals had dried, grabbed my basket and started gathering rose petals to make some culinary and skin care magic.

If you are a regular reader of my blog you'll already know that I love creating beautiful things with roses. I've shared a variety of recipes but still have more to come because there really is a lot you can do with the lovely rose.

We get plenty of visitors each year and they always like to help in the garden. I've noticed that not many people understand the rose and as such they harvest the petals improperly. Today I'm going to share how I harvest petals and why I think it is beneficial to do it this way. I'll also share a simple rose petal infused honey recipe, something we really enjoy around here!

Before I forget, here are some of my other rose based recipes. I hope they inspire you to add roses to your culinary and skin care repertoire. If you don't have access to organically grown rose petals you can find bags of organic dried rose petals on-line.

Rose Glow DIY Botanical Rose Water (Skin Toner and Mist)

Rose Petal Simple Syrup (Recipe)

The Forgotten Art of Using Roses In The Kitchen (Recipes Included)

How To Make Beautiful Homemade Extracts (It's Easy!)

Like many plants a rose needs to be pollinated in order to create fruit.

Roses are not just pretty flowers. They too bear fruit, known as the rose hip. The hip is a vitamin rich berry that can be used in many skincare and culinary recipes.

It does take some work to make the rose hip usable (irritating hairs inside the fruit must be removed) but it is well worth the effort. If you'd like to know how here's a post that will guide you through it.

If you would like to ensure your rosebushes are filled with lovely rosehips in the autumn, always select fully opened roses and try to observe pollinator activity. I like to make sure the bees have had a good day working the bush before I collect any petals.

Pick the petals from the flower leaving the base of the flower with the rose hip in place. Always gather the petals after the morning dew has dried the petals but before the day gets hot.

Rose Petal Herbal Honey

We enjoy infusing medicinal plants & honey. Honey is already a powerhouse of goodness and infusing it with other plant just adds to its super powers. The flavours are always incredibly enticing as well. There really isn't much to this recipe, it is very easy to make.

Rose petals contain vitamin C, A, B-3, D, and E, as well as bioflavonoids, minerals, malic and citric acid. Roses have been used to help clear toxins and heat from the body, relieve fluid retention and stimulate the immune system.

You can use rose petal infused honey just about any way you can imagine. Drizzle it over ice cream or oatmeal, use it to sweeten tea, eat it by the spoonful or slather it on your face as a nourishing mask.

Ingredients

• Enough rose petals to fill your jar
• Raw honey
• Glass jar with lid

Directions

• Gather fresh or dried rose petals. If using fresh allow the petals to air dry. I like to spread them out on a large tray and leave for a day. Moisture on the petals can cause your infusion to go bad!

• Roughly chop up the rose petals (if fresh)and place them in a glass jar. pour in the honey and stir. Ensure that the honey is covering all of the rose petals. Any petals exposed to air can go bad.

• Store the jar in a cool/dark location out of direct sunlight and allow to infuse for three to four weeks.

• Gently warm the honey to make it nice and runny. Place the jar in a pan of warm (no hotter than 110 degrees) water or you can place the jar in warm sunshine until it liquefies.

• Strain out the petals and store the honey in a clean jar. You can pour hot water over the discarded rose petals and make yourself a lovely tea or spread them on toast! No waste!

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