Eugenia Essentials

This Valentine’s Day some lucky ladies will be receiving roses, “The Queen of Flowers.” The reputation  for roses symbolizing love goes back to ancient mythology where the 1700′s Spanish opera “La purpura de la rosa” or “Blood of the Rose” describes a scene in which Venus’ lover Adonis has been wounded by Marte (Mars) disguised as a wild boar and as his blood turns the white roses to red he dies.  Jealous Marte  reveals the scene of Adonis dead among the roses to Venus. Venus lamenting the death of Adonis, calls upon the gods. Amor appears in the sky and announces Jupiter has taken pity on the lovers. Jupiter elevates Venus and Adonis to Mount Olympus where Venus takes the form of the evening star and Adonis the anemone flower…anemone? How come not the rose? Oh well, I guess Jupiter had his reasons.

There are 5,000 varities of roses.  Unfortunately today, the florist rose has had the scent bred right out of it in favor of long stems and perfect looking blooms. Yet most of us are familiar with the beautiful scent of the garden variety.  It takes over 10,000 pounds of flowers to make 1 pound of rose oil! This explains the high cost of rose oil. The two most common essential oils are Rosa damascena (Damask Rose) commonly known as Rose Otto and Rosa centifolia (from the Cabbage Rose) commonly known as Rose Maroc. The different species will yield a different aroma, color and viscosity of oil. The first known rose oil distilleries were in operation in 1612 in Shiraz, (in Persia).  Today Bulgaria is a large producer of Damask Roses and Morocco is known for the Cabbage Rose.

Another by product of rose distillation is rose hydrosol or rosewater. Rosewater is excellent for skin care and reducing puffiness around the eyes. Simply saturate a cotton ball and blot your eyes. It feels so cooling! The therapeutic qualities of the essential oil or absolute are: assists with nausea, headache, irregular menstruation, palpitations, assists with impotence and can be a uterine tonic. Its emotional benefits include: aphrodisiac, depression fighter, assists with feelings of sadness and grief and emotional coldness. For skin use it helps with broken capillaries, aging and mature skin, eczema and rejuvenation.

If you receive a bouquet of roses, you can prolong the life of the flowers by mixing a teaspoon of baking soda to one gallon of water and using this as the water for your flowers. Another trick is to add ¼ teaspoon of sugar, white or brown, to one quart of water or drop a copper penny into the bottom of the vase.

Whatever time of year, don’t forget to stop and take time to smell the roses!