A Settling Feeling, Blowing in the Wind..

Mmm, A very sweet aroma wafts through the air during this time of the year and that smell is Multiflora Rose( Rosa multiflora), a bushy invasive brought over from Asia to use as root stock in landscaped gardens. During the 1930’s, the U.S. Dept. of Soil Conservation highly promoted this plant for use in erosion control and as a “living fence” for cattle. Now with high-tech innovations in fencing and erosion control, using voracious plants such as the multiflora rose have become unnecessary and have been deemed noxious weeds in the eastern United States.

With that brief history said, we’d like to state that any plant given the title “noxious” is a sad, sad thing because all plants have their place in this world. It is very disappointing that human intervention has created these aliens, but one shouldn’t hate on the plant or the human intervention and instead get together to work with and around each other (by each other I mean the invasive species and the human element).

Though the alien species’ proper place may not be your backyard, try to utilize these potential resources for what they’re worth. For example: Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) is a weed commonly found in our area which can take over large areas of forest land and road sides, weeding out native flora and creating an imbalanced ecosystem. However, if we go out and gather this leafy green edible, it can make a pungent and delicious addition to a salad.

At Effervescent Spirits we are doing a two-day project involving Multiflora Rose flowers and Honey. We are going to make MEAD!

By making mead using this invasive resource, we are cutting the population little by little to try to get a hold on the spread of this seemingly insatiable plant. The Rose de Rustica we are making will be wonderfully delicious in a number months!

Day one: collect the flowers.



Sneezes and laughter with the occasional beat-box trumpet drift through the air. The sun sets and the bees dust themselves with tasty multiflora rose pollen as the CraftyCREW prick their way to a full bucket of petals.



Here’s Zoylent Green pickin some multiflora rose buds.

Opie singing Raffi’s “Down by the Bay”.

Z.Green getting down and prickly, when our mascot Strider, pops in for a hello.

Scopin' the haul.



After gathering the rose buds and soaking in the delicate floral aromas, we cover our day's collection in cold water and prepare for the brewing of tomorrow.