I have access to a stack of roses with monster rise hips. As the title says/asks… how does one know when to pick them?
2 Likes
I don’t know the answer. But that’s never stopped me before. Just pretend they’re apples (not hard to do when you think about it) and go from there.
In other words, do the seeds darken as the fruit ripens? Will they separate from the vine readily? Are they palatable?
I’m interested to know what you learn, so please, post a followup with your experience. Should be good.
2 Likes
I’m more than happy to just have a go at it, but I’ve been waiting a year for my second shot. The first time they were reaaaaly mushy and not seemingly palatable for any conceived use.
Picked a small one tonight. Mealy. Neutral flavor. White seeds.
If no more advice follows, I’ll just have a go at it.
1 Like
Hey there!
Oh I looove rose hips so this question is made for me!
- Is your rose a wild rose, like for example rosa canina or a garden rose thats bred for beautiful bloom? The reason I ask is that I have yet to find a garden rose with a palatable hip.
- Concerning the seeds: they stay white/beige.
- They have a hard ripe stadium, followed by a soft ripe. In both the skin is glossy with the hips I know, if the skin turns dull, they have begun to dry out.
- You can eat them hard or soft. Hard is better for fresh eating, because you can crack them with your teeth and then scoop out the seeds with a fingernail. For jelly etc. I guess they have to be soft.
- If they are red/orange and you don’t like the taste, it’s unlikely to get better because the taste stays the same as they get to soft, just more intense.
- In my experience hips that have “hairs” have often a greasy/ ugly taste
1 Like
Hips are ripe, when they turn red/orange and are not meant to be eaten raw. They’re usually very bitter.
2 Likes
Can you describe the flavor? I’m a hip-noob and am curious to see what all the fuss is about. 
As I’ve read about them in the last day or so, I get the impression that they should have a strong sour flavor. Maybe high citric acid? These… not at all. If they don’t intensify, I think I’ll have to find a new bush!
This one… it’s next to a building, but may be wild. They don’t focus on landscaping!
These aren’t at all bitter.
Thinking that these are commercial flower-centric roses.
I don’t have much experience here, but we snack on the wild rose hips here. They are not palatable until they get frosted a few times. They turn mushy and then dry out like raisins. Here, they taste nearly identical to craisins…dried cranberries. Very good but not worth the time to collect due to small size. These are tiny wild hips, no experience with other varieties.
went south on vacation to mid coast Maine. down there they have rose hips the size of quarters seemingly everywhere.! never tried eating them as i know nothing of how palatable they are. don’t know if they’re wild or cultivated but if they are good to eat, one could load up on them. only slightly red but I’ve seen them dark red come mid sept.
1 Like
Wait till they get dark red before picking. They are very good and definitely hang and change a bit like sparty said past frost. I believe the vitamin C and bioflavonoids are highest the fresher you can get them nice and ripe but before frost but they stick around until january or so here when the animals will have them stripped clean by then. I think you are only supposed to eat wild rose hips? If i strip a plant i will always try to go plant a few like i do with wild raspberries.
1 Like
I’m pretty sure these are wild. any place that is open and sunny has huge areas covered with them.
1 Like
Are you referring to the invasive rugosa rose moose? You’ll see them growing down my way often the closer to the ocean you get.
They are in fact so prevelant now that many biologists consider them “naturalized”. Similar to the lupin.
1 Like
thats probably them. didn’t know they were invasive. went down to Rockland for vacation this week and they’re everywhere and yes, the beaches had the most of them. how far is Rockland from you?
20 minutes. That’s my closest Walmart 
1 Like
nice area. 1st time I’ve been to that part of the coast. went to Owls head and Camden hills state park. suprised the amount of out of staters with the pandemic. lady at our hotel said it was only about a third of what they usually have that time of year.
well mines a hr and a half. 
1 Like
Ya I’m about 15 minutes inland from where you were. Enough that we are closer to bangor temps than Rockland temps and don’t get those roses. The coastal mountains are funny things. You were definitely in the tourist area for sure, I stay away from route 1 at all costs this time of year. It’s funny because this week me and the family headed North for a little Vaca (stayed in dover-foxcroft). We could have passed each other.
1 Like
I’ve been to old orchard in mid july. trust me i know how much a zoo it is. we wouldn’t have went except for the pandemic had reduced numbers and the hotel rates were half they usually were. id prefer to camp out on a nice quiet lake myself. the wife loves lighthouses.
1 Like
went to Ft. Knox state park 2 years ago and they were all along the river there as well. have you tried them? if they were more ripe i would have given them a try.
I have not tried them but this thread has piqued my interest. I’ll have to read up on it.
1 Like