Create Wedding Décor, Crafts, and Flavor

Used through the ages, follow the romance of how petals have imparted fragrance in so many sweet ways. Whether you strew aisles and  tables, make jam or rosebeads, they’re delightful. 

The Romance of Red Rose Petals

Red rose petals breathe romance and are a favorite for weddings, and romantic candle lit décor. They add fragrance and tactile luxury when you touch their soft and smooth, slightly cool skin between your fingers. They can add flavor to foods, and color as well. Explore and examine the beauty of Red Rose Petals…

Nothing is lovelier for strewing around a room than fresh rose petals.

Flower Girl can fling fragrant flower petals along the wedding aisle.

Perfect for the flower girl to scatter down the aisle.

Useful in so many ways

Fresh Petals – Perfect for weddings

If you want to use rose petals for food purposes, I would not purchase commercially grown roses. Only gather your own home grown blooms that are organically grown, without insecticides or fungicide. Use your own judgment for crafts, but I would only use the purchased flowers for decorative purposes.

For my daughter’s wedding we used fresh red rose petals on the reception tables and at the ceremony in the flower girls baskets. It was a very pretty touch.

List of Roses with Red, Fragrant Petals

Gather your own rose petals

Some of these are ‘old roses’ or heritage varieties which can be hard to find in the market, but all are worth growing. The hybrid teas will bloom throughout the season, the old roses bloom only in early summer. this list is not definitive, but will give you a base of named roses to look for when desiring red colored petals that are fragrant.

1. Mr. Lincoln
2. Charles De Mills, gallica
3. Fragrant Cloud
4. Rose de Rescht
5. Don Juan
6. Oklahoma
7. Red Masterpiece
8. Alec’s Red
9. Baron Girod de l’Ain
10. Chrysler Imperial
11. General Jacqueminot
12. Hugh Dickson
13. New Yorker
14. The Dark Lady
15. The Squire

Rose Beads, an Ancient Craft

Rose Petal Trivia

Reaching back into ancient time, as roses and their use and culture are from very early times, the making of rose beads is known to have been well established by the middle ages. Rose beads became favored for making prayer beads, known as the rosary.

Victorians developed the process with the use of fixatives and binders which made the beads stronger and able to retain their scent for a much longer time..[2] Gum Benzoin and Ground Orris root are two common and easily obtained fixatives.

Damask or Apothecary roses are the old roses which are still used to manufacture rose oils. Though not commonly available, they can be ordered from nurseries.

Cleopatra used roses to envelope herself in fragrance and allure. It is said that she had the palace floors carpeted with rose petals, her chamber filled two feet deep with red rose petals, and the fountains filled with rose water in preparation for Mark Antony. No wonder he was so taken with her.

Create Your Own Rose Beads

Gather together the materials and make fragrant beads for jewelry or other crafts.

Make Rose Beads for a Rosary

• Red, fragrant rose petals
• Water
• A saucepan
• A needle
• String for stringing.

Instructions

1. Gather the roses
2. Chop the petals as finely as you can
3. Put them in a saucepan and barely cover with water.Using a cast iron skillet will give a deeper color to the beads
4. Heat for an hour but do not let boil.
5. Repeat for three or four days, add more water if needed.
6. When the petals are the consistency of clay, start molding the beads.
7. Press out as much water as possible in a sieve.
8. Roll the pulp into balls.
9. They will shrink by half when dry, so make them about an inch diameter.
10. After somewhat dry use a large needle to make holes in the center of each beads
11. When dry, string them.

The warmth of your body will release rose fragrance from the dried beads.

250 Wedding FRESH Rose Petals Valentine Mix

Rose Bead Recipe #2 – Or Make A Necklace of Fragrance

Here is an alternative recipe from C. Jeanne Heida. This one replaces cooking the petals with repeated grinding.

Materials

• You will need:
• A meat grinder
• A cast iron skillet
• A box of thin picture nails- at least 3/4 inch in length
• Jewelry string
• Laundry basket full of fresh rose petals

Instructions

1. Grind the petals twice through the meat grinder.
2. Spread the petals in the skillet, cover and set aside.
3. Once a day, grind the paste through the meat grinder, then return the paste to the skillet.
4. After several days, you will notice the paste slowly beginning to turn black or deep brown. Continue to grind the petals daily, for 10 to 15 days until the rose petals have turned into a dense, putty like material.
5. After the petals have been turned into a dense and pliable paste,shape the rose paste into circles or squares.
6. Insert a nail through the center to create an opening for the thread. Wiggle the nail to enlarge the opening slightly larger than the nail itself.
7. Set the bead aside and let dry thoroughly.
8. After the beads have completely dried, remove the nails.
9. The beads can now be threaded onto the jewelry string.
10. Place small knots between the individual beads to prevent them from touching each other.

Floral Flavor

Try using rose syrup in cocktails,  over vanilla ice cream or panna cotta,  mixed into fruit salad, and drizzled over crepes. Desire something quick, on the shelf? Bottled syrup is available on Amazon.

Monin is considered a quality line of syrups.

Rose syrup

• 6 packed cups of rose petals
• 12 cups water
• 6 cups white sugar

Instructions

1. In large bowls add rose petals, have a large heavy platter that fits over the bowl snugly.
2. Bring to a boil 12 cups of water and pour over rose petals and quickly cover with platter.
3. Set aside till water cools.
4. Strain water and discard petals.
5. Mix water and sugar in a large pot and bring to boil till sugar is dissolved. But do not boil, only heat water enough to dissolve sugar.
6. If the color is not to your liking, you can adjust it. Add food coloring. Keep refrigerated. Will last about 3 months in fridge. Or you may also can it for longer storage. Use it drizzled over fresh fruit, in custard, on pancakes with fresh berries, in iced tea.
7. Note: To make the syrup pink you can add 1/8 cup or 2 tbsp. lemon juice to each cup of rose infusion. It is fun to watch it turn pink before your eyes. The lemon juice may also act as a preservative and lengthen the shelf time.

Culinary Red Rose Petals – Dried petals added to teas or foods

Teavana makes one of my favorite white teas with dried fruit, rosebuds and rose petals added to make a fragrant and indulgent tea. They named it ‘Snow Geisha’. You may not find this particular type now, but look for similar mixes in specialty teas.

Youthberry is another one of their teas which contain rose petals and has a very lovely floral nose to it. I found this is still available for purchase in teabag form at Target stores.

Rosebuds and Petals, Red 8oz. Culinary…Food Grade

Culinary grade petals to use in your rose petal flavored creations

You could add your own petals to tea, using a culinary grade of dried petals.

Edible Petals

Roses are grown with the use of many pesticides and fungicides unless they specify otherwise. That is why you should never use roses from unknown sources for culinary use. Make sure you use organically grown roses. Better yet, grow them without poisons in your own yard.

In cooking, the essence of rose flavors cookies, cakes, and other confections.

Rose water is distilled from rose petals and Moroccan rose water is known for its high quality, made from Rosa damascena. Best type to use for skin care, in cosmetics or as a skin toner.

Scented Sugar

Make Rose Petal Scented Sugar

Make Rose Petal Sugar

1 Cup White Sugar

2 Cups fresh, fragrant Rose Petals, shredded or minced

1. Pound sugar and rose petals with a mortar and pestle.
2. Place in a covered jar for one week.
3. Sift out petal bits if desired and store in an airtight container. You can also add a vanilla bean.

Red Rose Petal Jam – Sweet, Fresh, Scented Jam

You can use ‘Eva’ hybrid musk rose petals or any type that is free from pesticides and has a good strong perfume.

Buying a good rose jam is also possible.This is a rose flavored jam that is ideal when paired with salty cheeses and great for a tea time snack.

Christine Ferber, Cherry Marmalade & Rose Petals Jam

From Cynthe’s blog which has gorgeous illustrations of the process, comes the following recipe to make your own.

Floral Topics

Mr. Lincoln is a red rose of the hybrid tea type. I grow it, and it has been one of the few hybrid teas hardy in my Zone 5 garden (although I do grow it in a protected place). Mr. Lincoln has a strong, beautiful rose scent and deep red petals.

• Roses, Roses, Roses in My Garden: Rose Poems
  romantic rose poems and quotations about roses. An old recipe for rose beads.
• Rose Petals, Buds, and Powder Profile
  Rose Petals, Buds, and Powder Profile Also known as Rosa spp (centifolia, gallica, and damascena are the most common varieties), Provence Rose, French Rose, Cabbage Rose, Red Rose, and Pink Rose. Introduction The rose has been valued for its beauty a