Russian River Rose Company in Healdsburg, CA

 In winter, you wouldn't think there would be much to see in a rose garden.  Wrong!  We had a nice tour of the Russian River Rose Company the day after Christmas.  There were some roses in bloom, but I especially enjoyed the beautiful rose hips that looked like crimson berries.  The hips can be made into a tea, rich in vitamin C.  One thing I learned is that you can take the hips off without any harm to the plant.  The tour included a demonstration of how the rose water and rose oil is made.  They use a still!  They grow a rose from Bulgaria that produces a strong and true rose scent.  We also had a sample of rose sorbet.  Excellent!  The garden includes hundreds of varieties of roses from all types - miniature, tea, climbing and more.  The owners were there and I got a helpful lesson on pruning.

The garden includes irises and vines and shrubs that attract hummingbirds.

There was an ample persimmon tree and the persimmons were for sale at 25 cents each.  We took some home.  We also bought a small bottle of rose water.

I would like to see the garden in all the seasons.  Winter gardens have their own special charm!

                                                        The hips are loaded with vitamin C

                                                        The house had lots of plantings to attract hummingbirds

                                                        The rose hips look like ornamental berries

                                                        A mighty persimmon tree