To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] rose hips
Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2007 22:47:37 -0500
George,
Rugosa likes sandy soils, will grow only too well in them though they
languish in our clay.
Beware of cultivars that are noted for continuous blooming, usually
because they are sterile. You want something that blooms, sets a crop of
hips and ripens it. There was an article in POMONA some years back by
someone who found that their first 'Hansa' cultivar bloomed well but didn't
set many hips. He got a different 'Hansa' that bloomed less, but set lots
of hips.
Keep in mind too that all rose hips are not created equal. I have
'Carefree Beauty', a very successful rose that makes a lot of hips if you
let it, but I don't think they'd be very useful as food. They seem to stay
hard and dull orange and then dry up. The R. canina that I picked for rose
hip syrup in England were brightly colored and succulent. None are any good
for eating because of the fuzzy seeds, but boiled and strained, they are
both nutritious and very nice. Donna