Rose Hips

As the wildflowers of summer are disappearing from plants, the flowers are replaced with fruits and seeds to propagate another generation of the plant. The fruits of the multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora) are know as "hips". Rose hips are particularly high in vitamin C and can be used to make jam, jelly and marmalade.



The rose hips of the multiflora rose are small, but what they lack in size they make up with numbers. The multiflora rose hips are a favorite winter food for birds, which in turn distribute the seeds.

Wildflowers

While walking around our fields this time of year there is the smell of perfume in the air. After looking for the source of the fragrance I realized it was coming from one of the most invasive plants on our property, multiflora rose. Introduced from Japan in 1886, this member of the rose family grows in dense thickets and replaces the surrounding vegetation.



Because of its many blossoms, an individual plant may produce up to 500,000 seeds per year.



Other wildflowers may not smell as nice as multiflora rose, but they are easier to live with.

Orange Hawkweed (Hieracium aurantiacum)
Other common names: Devil's Paintbrush


Yellow Hawkweed (Hieracium pratense)
Other common names: King Devil


Moth Mullein (Verbascum blattaria L.)


Dame's Rocket (Hesperis matronalis)