Making some rose water ...

 I am always up for a challenge. I saw a clip on instagram by Foraged.by.fern about making your own rose water & I thought 'why not, I have loads of roses'.  We do not use chemical sprays at home so our roses are safe to use. 

The method is to collect fragrant rose petals, put them in a pot with about 2 cups of water & insert a heatproof bowl in to the centre. 

Invert the lid & put ice cubes on the top of the inverted lid so the boiling water in the pot condenses when it hits the cold lid & the droplets are collected in the bowl.  Another instagram account, gardeningconnect, had a similar one today so I decided to have a go. 

How simple these things sound. I tried several pots until I found one that would accommodate the bowl I had. The lid was too close to the bowl for the steam to run in to so I popped 3 forks along the rim to give it space & that helped to the lip of the bowl was free from the lid. This is the distilling method of doing it.  I had to add more ice cubes several times & in the end there was some clear liquid in the bowl. 

However, the rose petals had pulped in the pot & that remaining liquid had simmered to a deep pink colour from the roses. After straining it, I thought it might to to add to a bath as it would contain the concentrated rose oils. 

Fern's suggested uses from her instagram are:

🧁 Stir it into sweet treats! Stir it with icing sugar to make a floral glaze, add a splash while you’re making cakes or pastries or use it to flavour a rice pudding, sorbet or panna cotta!

🌬 Spritz it as a cooling face mist! Put the rosewater into a spray bottle and use it to feel refreshed while it calms any redness and inflammation

✨ Use it a heart medicine! Just a few drops of rose water in your favourite drink or onto your tongue will help open the heart to loving energies, while easing sorrow and grief

🛌 Use it as a pillow spray! The fragrance of rose has been shown to help people feel less stressed, so a little spritz on your pillow will help you sleep soundly

An interesting one. The simmering method of the petals remaining in the pot produces the deeper pink colour, the distilling method produces the clear liquid, as confirmed on this post about the methods of making rose water. 

Will I repeat it? I don't know, I will try both out cosmetically & then decide but you never know until you try something. 

Do send some hints my way if you were successful with rose water ... 

Thank you for stopping by, you are always welcome, 

Dee 🥀🌹💐

Calming Green ‘Forest bathing’ garden

The annual RHS Chelsea Flower Show has featured several winning gardens focused on green plants & structural plants like ferns, trees etc

I have made a concerted effort to plant a lot of green plants so that our garden retains its structure through our long winters. 

All of our back windows look onto the garden, framed by tall hedges & evergreens so it is pleasing to have a good view throughout the year, even in dull winter light. 

The large topiary balls are 25 years old, grown from topiary that was in the Dorset family garden. They are much loved ... 

There is a variety of shades of green as well as different leaf sizes & shapes & it retains this structure all year which makes it a welcoming space.  We have several David Austin roses - they have just won their 28th gold award at Chelsea. The rose against our house is Shropshire Lad & we also have the Jubilee & Elizabeth rose, bought in honour of our late Majesty. 

In Spring & Summer, there are pops of colour from bulbs, annuals & shrubs which are like little bursts of interest. This is balanced by several white flowering shrubs because they show up in low light at night. 

I studied the RHS Chelsea gardens & feel rather pleased that our garden is on trend & somewhere we love to be in; the intense greens are very calming & the hedges are the perfect backdrop to the space. We are blessed ...

Are you inspired by other gardens ? Tell all 

Dee 🌳🌺🪻🌹