Roses are one of those plants that has been and can be used for food, medicine and cosmetics. For centuries, roses have been bread for color, for scent and for the beauty that they hold within themselves.

Wild roses generally only have five petals per flower, though some have double petals. They can bloom from late spring to the middle of summer, depending on where you are, and how cool of a spring you have had.

Cooking with roses can be for the flavor or scent. You can incorporate the flower peatals into jams, conserves, pork sauces, apple sauce and basicly any fruit-oriented food. You can also create sugared rose petals similar to sugared violets.

The petals of roses, domesticated and wild, can be used to scent things, from oils to talc to clothing. The easiest way to extract the scent of roses is to soak them in oil for several days, strain and keep in the refridgerator. Or, you can put talc or cornstarch into a sealable box, put the roses into the box, seal it, shake it at least once a day for a week. Either put the talc into a shaker or a pretty box with a pouf.

Whatever you use the roses for, make sure either you grew them yourself, or they are from an organic supplier. You do not want to eat herbicides or pesticides, any more than you already do.

Craft recipies, like herb waters, can be fun to do with rose petals.

When roses go to seed, they have Rose Hips.

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