Learny things + Rose Hips

The thing I love about gardening is I am constantly learning new things. Perhaps this explains why it took me 6 years to get my college degree....I just liked learning too much!

I recently discovered an interesting fruity thing called the rose hip. I remember being a kid and seeing the roses that my parents tended get these swollen areas where the flower died back. But they didn't turn a beautiful shades of red and yellow like these!

Chris and I took Jake for a walk yesterday and came across a large "wild" shrub rose bush covered in rose hips (many bushes actually). I say "wild" because it is part of the native landscaping the City of Folsom installs and maintains.

The rose hips were really quite gorgeous. There are days I spend obsessing over the side yard fence extension project, including the veggies/fruit/edibles that will live here, and yesterday was one of them. Chris observed that we could plant the rose shrubs out front and that would give our neighbors "they types of flowers normal people want" mixed with the edible garden + plants that we want.

Part of the reason we took the walk yesterday (aside from getting the dog some exercise) was to photograph the house in a neighboring development that has the side yard we want. I don't know if we can afford the beautiful tumbled stone like the picture, but something similar that is not the standard retaining wall stone you see. Their setup is VERY similar to ours, and is the inspiration for our project.

I keep talking about this project, but I hope to make the phone call this week to the landscaper...then it might actually seem real.