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Fruit of the rose yields delicious treat

Recipe: Rose hip jelly tastes (surprise!) like hibiscus

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Make a small batch of jelly from the garden. The rose is Rainbow Sorbet, a floribunda,
one of many used in this jelly. (Photos: Debbie Arrington)
It’s harvest time in the rose garden. A byproduct of annual pruning: Rose hips.

Rose hips
Rose hips come in many shapes and sizes.
Rose hips are the fruit of the rose and are packed with flavor and vitamin C. A cup of raw rose hips contains 12 times as much vitamin C as a whole orange.
In nature, rose hips are deer candy. Deer can’t resist these little red or orange nuggets. (That’s why rose bushes have sharp prickles: so hungry animals won’t eat the whole plant.)
It’s not surprising that rose hips are tasty. Roses come from the same family as apples, pears, quinces, loquats, almonds, peaches, apricots, plums and cherries.
But rose hips don’t taste like roses – or any of those other fruit. They have a more tropical taste similar to hibiscus, the main flavoring of Red Zinger tea (which also contains rose hips).
Speaking of Red Zinger, the most common use of rose hips is dried in tea. Trimmed hips can be dried quickly in a dehydrator or slowly on a windowsill.
If you have a lot of rose hips, consider making rose hip jelly. Use only hips from roses that are pesticide free; in particular, don’t use hips from roses treated with systemic pesticides. (The chemicals find their way into all parts of the plant.)
Rose hips have little or no natural pectin. That’s where their cousin apples come in. In this recipe, apples add some natural pectin as well as making up for lack of fresh rose hips.
The result is a flavorful jelly that tastes like a spoonful of tropical sunshine. Who knew it came from a rose garden?

Trimmed rose hips
The rose hips are trimmed for the recipe.
Rose hip jelly
Makes about 4 half-pints

Ingredients:

4 cups rose hips and apples
6 cups water plus more as needed
½ cup lemon juice
6 tablespoons (1 package) powdered pectin
¼ teaspoon butter
3-1/2 cups sugar

Instructions:

With a sharp paring knife, trim rose hips, removing stem and calyx (the pointy crown) on the blossom end. Rinse.
Measure trimmed rose hips. Remove stems from apples, but don’t peel or core. Quarter apples. Add enough apples to rose hips to bring total to 4 cups prepared fruit. Mixture should be primarily rose hips, but include at least two apples.
In a large heavy pot, put prepared rose hips and apples. Add 6 cups water. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to simmer. Cook on gentle heat until rose hips are soft and mashable, about an hour. Add more water if needed as rose hips and apples cook.
With a potato masher, mash rose hips and apples. Transfer mashed fruit to a jelly bag and let juice drip into a large bowl or 1-quart measuring cup. You need 2-1/2 cups juice; add up to ½ cup water to reach that total.
Rinse out the heavy pot and return juice to pot. Add lemon juice, pectin and butter (which helps prevent foaming). Bring to a boil.
Add sugar all at once. Return to full boil and boil mixture 1 minute. If using a candy thermometer, mix
Jars
Pectin from the apples help the jelly gel.
ture should reach 220 degrees F.
Skim off any foam. Ladle hot mixture into sterilized jars, leaving 1/4-inch head space, and seal.
Process jars in hot-water bath 10 minutes. Cool and store.
Note: If not processed in hot-water bath, store jelly in the refrigerator for up to one month or freeze.

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RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

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Flowers in My Back Yard Series

Aug. 25: Crape myrtles, Sacramento's unofficial tree of summer

Aug. 18: Pollinators adore scabiosa, aka pincushion flower

Aug. 11: Hardy hibiscus adds big tropical impact

Aug. 4: Dianthus a deceptively hardy flower

July 28: Naked Ladies put on summer show

July 21: Thank Luther Burbank for these long-lasting beauties (Shasta daisies)

July 14: How to keep hydrangeas happy

July 7: Grow these bright cosmos for bees and butterflies

June 30: Agapanthus adds blue fireworks to the garden

June 23: Easy-care gazanias fill those hot corners

June 16: Daylilies are perfect for water-wise gardens (and a lot more)

June 9: Grow coneflowers for pollinators -- and yourself

June 2: Sunflowers capture Sacramento's summer attitude

May 29: Are your roses going 'blind'?

May 26: Zinnias are the summer flowers every garden needs

May 19: Plant dahlias now for late-summer flower power

May 12: Know your coreopsis from your bidens

May 5: Mums the word on Mother's Day weekend

April 28: Majestic Matilija poppy is worth a look

April 21: Celebrate roses, America's favorite flower

April 14: Small flowers with outsized impact

April 7: Calendulas do double duty

April 3: Make Easter lilies last for years to come

March 31: In praise of a pollinator magnet (small-leaf salvias)

March 24: Azaleas brighten shady spots

March 17: The perfect flower for beginners? Try zonal geraniums

March 10: Keep camellias happy for years to come

March 3: Fruit tree blossoms are a fleeting joy

Feb. 27: Are your roses looking rusty?

Feb. 24: Treasure spring daffodils now and for years to come

Feb. 17: How and why to grow wildflowers

Feb. 10: Let's talk Valentine's Day roses

Feb. 3: Why grow flowers?

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Find our summer recipes here!

Garden checklist for week of Aug. 16

During this break in the heat, feed your garden. Make sure to water before and after applying fertilizer.

* In the garden, direct seed beets, carrots, leaf lettuce and turnips.

* Plant potatoes.

* Harvest tomatoes, beans, squash, pepper and eggplants to prompt plants to keep producing. Give your plants a deep watering twice a week, more if planted in containers. Also, give them a boost with phosphate-rich fertilizer to help fruiting.

* Watch out for caterpillars and hornworms in the vegetable garden. They can strip a plant bare in one day. Pick them off plants by hand in early morning or late afternoon.

* Feed citrus trees their last round of fertilizer for the year. This will give a boost to the fruit that’s still small.

* Mulch can be your garden’s best friend – it conserves moisture while blocking out weeds. But don't let mulch mound around stalks, stems or trunks. That can promote rot.

* Camellia leaves looking a little yellow? Give them some chelated iron. That goes for azaleas and gardenias, too.

* Pick up after your fruit trees. Clean up debris and dropped fruit; this cuts down on insects and prevents the spread of brown rot. Then feed fruit trees with slow-release fertilizer for better production for next year.

* To prolong bloom into fall, feed begonias, fuchsias and container plants. Always water before fertilizing.

* Fertilize fall-blooming perennials, too. Chrysanthemums can be fed until the buds start to open.

* Prepare for a fall full of flowers by paying a little extra attention to your garden. Cut off spent blooms from roses, annuals and perennials, then give them a boost of fertilizer. Make sure to water plants before feeding. Roses will rebloom about six to eight weeks after deadheading.

* Indoors, start seedlings for fall vegetable planting, including bunching onion, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, radicchio and lettuce.

* Sow seeds of perennials in pots for fall planting including yarrow, coneflower and salvia.

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Why winter is the perfect time to plant fruit trees

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Plant a fruit tree now -- for later

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Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space

Ways to win the fight against weeds

FALL

Add asparagus to your edible garden

Soggy soil and what to do about it

Plant artichokes now; enjoy for years to come

It's late November, and your peach tree needs spraying

What to do with all those fallen leaves?

Prepare now for colder weather in the edible garden

Plant a pea patch for you and your garden

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Change is in the autumn air 

We don't talk (enough) about beets

Fava beans do double duty

Seeds or transplants for cool-season veggies?

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Time to shut it down? 

How to get the most out of your pumpkin patch

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To pick or not to pick those tomatoes?

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Why won't my tomatoes turn red?

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Does this plant need water?

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How to grow summer salad greens

 Weird stuff that's perfectly normal

SPRING

Help pollinators help your garden

Battling early-season tomato pests

Make your own compost

Where are the bees when you need them?

How to help tomatoes thrive on hot days

Your plants can tell you more than any calendar can

Maintain soil moisture with mulch for garden success

What's (already) wrong with my tomato plants?

Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)

Grow culinary herbs in containers

When to plant summer vegetables

Don't be fooled by these garden myths

Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth