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Save Leftover Rose Hips After Pruning Your Garden And Thank Us Later
By PEG ALOI
Rose hips are the fruits produced by roses of all kinds. Rose experts advise pruning rose hips to encourage new buds, but these fruits should not just
be discarded.
Edible, delicious, and full of vitamin C, rose hips can be made into tea or jam. If left whole, they can provide nutrition for birds and other backyard wildlife.
It's also fine to leave rose hips attached and allow birds to feed on them directly. Wild rose hips in particular are an important food source for many overwintering birds.
You may be tempted to eat whole rose hips, but their tiny seeds can irritate the digestive tract. If you want to eat them, you must deseed them first, which can be time-consuming.
Wait until after the first frost to harvest the rose hips in order to make them sweeter and more flavorful. This is important if you plan to use the rose hips to make
jam or tea.
You can use garden tools like bypass pruners or small garden snips to harvest the rose hips, or you can use gloved hands. Either way, be careful with the
treacherous thorns.