I recently visited the rose garden at the Barnum-Bailey Museum outside Bradenton, Florida. It was a delightfully warm and pleasant day, perfect for stuffing my nose into roses to test their fragrance. Here are a few I found that would be fine for eating
(provided they had not been sprayed with pesticides, and one can never be certain in a professional display garden).
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| 'The Prince,' an English shrub rose. |
'The Prince' has a delicious fragrance that I believe would work really well in rose cake or for making your own rose water. Chopped and mixed with room temperature butter, formed into a mold, it would also make an outstanding rose butter.
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| 'Jubilee Celebration' has a pleasant fragrance. |
Another rose that caught my nose is 'Jubilee Celebration.' Pink roses often excel in fragrance over the other colors and this one was no exception. Not cloying, but just pleasantly "rosy," this would work well in rose ice cream or tea.
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| 'Julia Child' a rose with no fragrance. |
When I spied 'Julia Child' I stuck my nose in with great expectations. Surely naming a rose after a chef of such renown, this would be a deliciously fragrant, fun-for-eating rose! Boy was I disappointed. Why on earth would any rose grower name a lovely rose, with no fragrance or other qualities, after Julia Child? I can only imagine it was a good publicity trick to sell the rose. It may have other excellent qualities, but fragrance and edibility are not among them.
For lots of recipes using roses, you can order my book from my
website, or on Amazon.com. You can also order copies in bulk for your garden or rose club by contacting me through my
website.
You will also find lots of information and rose recipes from the Rose, Herb of the Year book, available from the
International Herb Association and the
Herb Society of America version, available from then, too. There are lots of good reasons, and resources, for eating roses this year!
