Should You Cut Off Rose Hips?
Rose hips are the fruit that form on rose bushes after the flowers fade They are round or oval in shape and can range in color from orange to red to purple Rose hips have long been valued for their high vitamin C content and culinary uses. But what should you do with rose hips in your garden – leave them on the plant or cut them off? Here is a look at the pros and cons of cutting off rose hips to help you decide.
What Are Rose Hips?
Rose hips are the fruit of the rose plant that form after pollination. They contain the seeds of the plant. Rose hips begin forming after the petals fall from the rose flower. The base of the flower swells and forms a bright orange to red fruit.
Some species of roses, like rugosa roses, produce particularly large and abundant rose hips. Wild roses also commonly produce rose hips. The hips begin forming in late summer or early fall and persist on the plants through winter.
Rose hips are extremely high in vitamin C, containing anywhere from 100-200 times more vitamin C than citrus fruits. They also contain vitamins A, B, E, and K, flavonoids, antioxidants, iron, and selenium.
Rose hips are good for you and their bright colors make the winter garden more interesting to look at. Rose hips are also good for birds to eat, so leaving them on plants gives them food in the winter.
Reasons to Cut Off Rose Hips
While rose hips certainly have their benefits, there are also reasons you may want to cut them off your rose bushes:
-
In order to get more flowers, removing the rose hips may make the plant focus on making more flowers the next year instead of fruit. Cutting off old flowers and hips helps the plant use its energy to make new growth and flowers.
-
For neater appearance – Some gardeners simply don’t like the look of large, bulbous rose hips on the plant and prefer a neater appearance. Pruning them off gives a tidier look.
-
To prevent disease – If rose hips are left on the plant, fungi and other plant diseases can overwinter in the hips and spread the following spring. Removing hips helps remove sources of disease.
-
For culinary use – Rose hips can be used to make jelly, jam, tea, syrup, and more. If you want to use them, pruning the hips to harvest is necessary.
-
To prevent unwanted seedlings – If you don’t want rose seedlings popping up everywhere, removing rose hips prevents dispersed seeds.
If these are your main concerns, cutting off the rose hips might be the best thing to do. Rose hips should be cut off in late fall, after a hard frost but before winter dieback. Use clean, sterilized pruners to avoid transferring disease.
Reasons to Leave Rose Hips
That being said, there are good reasons to leave rose hips alone as well:
-
Winter interest – Rose hips provide visual interest in the winter garden with their bright colors. Especially for roses with particularly large, showy hips like rugosas, leaving them on provides winter appeal.
-
Wildlife food source – Birds rely on rose hips as an important food source in winter when other foods are scarce. Songbirds like thrushes, waxwings, finches, and jays all enjoy munching on rose hips.
-
Nutritional content – Rose hips contain very high levels of vitamin C, minerals, and antioxidants. Leaving them on the plant allows you or wildlife to make use of these nutrients.
-
Natural mulch – As rose hips drop from the plant over winter, they form a natural mulch layer on the soil surface. This helps suppress weeds, insulate soil, and add organic matter.
-
Easy propagation – Allowing seeds in rose hips to drop to the ground can lead to rose seedlings popping up in spring. For some, this is an easy way to propagate new rose plants.
If providing food for wildlife, enjoying winter appeal, and allowing natural reseeding are your priorities, leaving rose hips intact makes sense.
How to Use Rose Hips
If you do prune off rose hips, be sure to take advantage of them! Both fresh and dried rose hips are highly versatile in the kitchen. Popular ways to use rose hips include:
-
Making tea – Dried rose hips can be steeped to make a tangy, fruity tea high in vitamin C. Enjoy it hot or chilled.
-
Infusing in oil – Rose hips infused in oil make a moisturizing skin or massage oil. The vitamin C helps combat aging.
-
Crafting jam/jelly – High in pectin, rose hips are perfect for making jelly and jam. Cook hips and strain to extract juice.
-
Baking – Chopped rose hips can be added to muffins, cakes, pancakes, and more for a nutritional boost.
-
Making syrup – Simmer rose hips with water and sugar, then strain to produce vitamin C-rich syrup.
-
Adding to yogurt – Mix chopped fresh rose hips into yogurt for a nutritious parfait topping.
-
Infusing vinegar – Rose hips infused in vinegar make a pretty pink cooking vinegar.
-
Making tea – Tea from dried rose hips provides a tangy, fruity drink high in vitamin C.
Storing Rose Hips
If harvesting rose hips to use in cooking or herbal remedies, proper storage is important. Here are some tips:
-
Refrigerate fresh – Fresh rose hips will last 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator. Rinse first and store in a permeable bag.
-
Freeze for later – For longer storage, freeze fresh hips. Rinse, dry, and spread in a single layer on a tray before freezing.
-
Dry thoroughly – For use in tea, oils, etc., be sure to dry hips completely before storage. Use a dehydrator or low oven.
-
Store dried in airtight containers – Place dried hips in airtight glass jars or bags. Keep in a cool, dark place.
-
Use dried within 1 year – For best flavor and nutrition, use dried hips within a year. Vitamin C content degrades over time.
Follow proper harvesting, cleaning, and drying methods to get the most out of your rose hips.
The Verdict on Cutting Rose Hips
In the end, whether to cut rose hips comes down to personal preference and priorities. To promote more blooms, prune for neater appearance, and use in cooking, removing them makes sense. But to provide food for wildlife, enjoy winter appeal, and allow natural reseeding, leaving hips intact is the way to go.
If you do prune them, take care to harvest the hips and take advantage of their versatility in the kitchen. With their high vitamin C and unique tangy flavor, rose hips are a nutritious and delicious ingredient!
Health Benefits of Rose Hips
After taking out the hips, you can use them in the kitchen. Rose hips are high in vitamin C and are used in many supplements. You may have also heard of rose hip tea, jelly, and marmalade. Dry the hips and store them in a cool, dry place until you need them.
Fresh or dried, you can make a refreshing tea that is high in Vitamin C, A, E, and B, flavonoids, and other antioxidants and minerals. They also contain a substance that fights inflammation and is great for your health and immune system.
The juice from fresh rose hips can be frozen for up to a year or strained and used right away. Fresh or dried Rose Hips can also be cooked to extract the juice for preserves, syrups, and flavoring. Drizzle the syrup over pancakes, or flavor beverages, and even serve over ice cream. The juice can add vitamin C to bone broth, and the hips themselves can be added to flavored vinegar.
Rose Hips can also be infused and turned into Rose Hip oil, which is used in many beauty products, such as lip balms, creams, salves, and soaps. Vitamin C keeps skin moist and has been shown to help make collagen and protect skin cells from sun damage. Plus the oil has beta-carotene!.
All About Rose Hips
Sometimes spelled Rosehip, these colorful round seed pods are the fruits that form on many kinds of Rose bushes (Rosa spp.), and especially large and showy on Rugosa Roses! Some of the Rose Hips from wild roses are much smaller and less fleshy but very show still!
When the flowers finish the petals fall off and the fleshy fruit forms and ripens and color ranges from orange, yellow, and red to deep purple. As you can see the Roses starting to go dormant and the leaves are turning color and the Hips have colored up beautifully!
The Hips are the fleshy fruits where the seeds are produced. But there is more to these colorful nuggets than meets the eye!
Know when to harvest your rose hips!
FAQ
Should you deadhead rosehips?
Rather than deadheading roses on hip-producing varieties, let the hips flourish and reap their beauty and benefits.
Should you pick rose hips?
All rose hips are edible; however, many rose bushes in gardens are sprayed with pesticides. Be sure to pick wild rose hips growing chemical-free and far away from a busy road. I recommend picking ripe, bright red-orange hips, and if you’re going to pick a lot, it might be a good idea to wear gloves.
Do rose hips turn into roses?
You can grow roses by planting the whole hip in the ground, but the seeds might not take. For this reason, most experts suggest removing the seeds from the hips first. Rinsing rose seeds with water will help to clean them and remove any excess debris.
Should you leave rose hips in winter?
The ‘seeds’ (rose hips) can be left on the plant for animals to eat through winter (such as birds and squirrels) or they can be removed.