By now you should have collected and dried enough rosebuds to get you through your crafting season. Leave those roses on the bush, and start collecting the petals before they drop and blow away. Just the petals, mind you. You want to let the hips get nipped by a frost before you collect them for tea.If you have an abundance of rose petals, use them to make rose water to use in beauty preparations.
Homemade Rose Water
- Boil 1-1/3 cup of water.
- Turn the heat down so the water is just simmering.
- Add 1 cup fresh rose petals.
- Allow to simmer for 3 minutes.
- Strain into a clean container.
- Dispose of the rose petals.
- Return the rose water to the pan.
- Bring to a simmer.
- Add another cup of rose petals
- Repeat the process until 3 cups of petals have been simmered and strained.
- Pour into clean bottle or jar.
- Allow to cool.
- Cover
If the steam from simmering the rose water gets to be too much, pour a bit of your already cooled rose water on a clean cloth and pat your face and throat. Cool, aromatic and refreshing, isn't it?
Lay out any rose petal that are left so that they can air dry and be ready for other preparations that I'll be writing about throughout the fall and winter.
Check your roses daily. Don't let any of those precious petals go to waste. Keep making the water and drying the leftovers. Homemade beauty products and crafts made with roses are great for gifts if you have more than you can use yourself.
photo used with permission under morgueFile Free License
All written content ©2010 Patrice Campbell unless otherwise noted.
