And the last POTW posting for the season is: Rose!
Prior to being the People’s Apothecary Garden, the space was primarily a rose garden, hosting several of Carolyn Askew’s large and beautiful rose cultivars (a plant variety that is produced through selective breeding).
When designing the PAG in 2020, we made sure to preserve the rose bushes, because apart from bearing enchanting flowers, they provide aromatherapy and their rose hips (fruit) are filled with nutrients.
Rose hips are edible, raw or cooked, and all rose hips from native, non-native, and cultivar plants are high in vitamin C (20x more than in oranges!) and have properties that are excellent for healthy skin.
However, if you are looking to support wildlife, go with native species, such as those found on Thetis: the larger, Nootka rose, and the smaller and more delicate, baldhip rose (Hul'q'umi’num: Oel'qulhp and Xwiinhp, respectively). The reason for this is that cultivars are bred for their flower, and thus focus on the petal vs. the pollen / nectar.
To read more about the various qualities of the rose, view its plant card here (replace the (DOT) with “.” to access the link):
www.thetisislandnatureconservancy.org/single-post/plant-of-the-week
That’s a wrap for this year’s PAG Plant of the Week. I hope they’ve been informative and enjoyable to read. The primary purpose of this activity was to highlight some of the plants at the PAG (and that can be harvested there) and to whet your appetite for medicinal plants!
A big thanks to eSPOKES volunteers for posting each week’s plants and to Leah Winders for maintaining the garden this summer!
Charlotte Fesnoux,
ThINC Program Coordinator
