Meeting the artist: Adriana Cicic

Adriana Cicic is a Donegal-based artist with roots in Croatia and Serbia. Her work has been shown internationally and she now creates from Ireland, with paintings and drawings available on Saatchi Art.

By day, Adriana works in marketing and runs a wine blog exploring the meeting place of art, wine and travel, always with an eye for landscape, culture and the small details of beauty that many of us walk past.

On her Instagram, @adriana_ci_art, you’ll find bright, uplifting paintings,Donegal beaches, rooftop views, wild flowers on a table, and quiet still-life studies. Among them sits the rosehip artwork that sparked this collaboration: delicate stems, winter light, small fruits holding more colour than their size should allow.

It felt like home to us,a still life that carries the same values we hold here at The Rock Ballymacavany:rooted in land, quietly joyful, honouring the everyday miracle of plants.

Rosehips in folklore: love, protection & patience

Rosehips are the fruit that follow the rose. Long after the petals have blown away, the hips remain: bright, persistent, weathering every frost.

Because they take time to ripen,around a hundred days,some traditions say rosehips symbolise “waiting for your true love” and the patience required for good things to mature.

In some parts of European folklore and contemporary witchcraft, rosehips are used to mend a broken heart and to invite gentle, enduring love back in.

They’re also tied to the turning of the seasons. Writing on plant lore, herbalists describe rosehips as symbols of abundance, protection and renewal,a promise that, even as the land rests, life and seed are held safe within the fruit, ready for spring.

Spiritually, rosehips are often associated with guarding inner peace and resilience: a reminder that we can soften and open, yet still hold strong boundaries, like the rose’s thorns protecting its fruit.

All of this sits beautifully with the midwinter festivals, a time of love, protection of the hearth, and quiet hope in the darker months.

Rosehips in herbal practice: food, medicine & winter ally

As herbalists, we know rosehips first as food: a tangy, vitamin-rich fruit used for teas, syrups, jams and vinegars. Traditional texts describe rosehips being used in ancient Greek, Roman, Persian and Chinese medicine, and in medieval Europe they were served as sweetmeats and as a remedy for chest complaints.

Modern research has deepened that story:

• Rosehips are particularly rich in vitamin C, polyphenols and other antioxidants, making them a classic winter ally in herbalism.
• Clinical studies suggest rosehip preparations can help reduce inflammation and support people living with osteoarthritis and other inflammatory conditions.
• Herbalists today still lean on rosehip for immune support, joint health and skin nourishment, especially in teas, powders and oils.

Of course, every body is unique, and rosehip in a therapeutic dose is something to explore with a qualified herbalist or healthcare practitioner. But as a nourishing, everyday winter plant, it remains a trusted friend: a way to bring colour, nutrients and a sense of care into dark months.

Rosehips in the hedgerows at Ballymacavany

They’re the beads of colour that stay long after the last blossom has gone; food for birds, medicine for those who gather with respect, and a reminder that hedgerows are larders, boundaries and wildlife corridors all at once.

We grow and gather plants in rhythm with the land, honouring organic, biodynamic and regenerative practices. Our work with herbs is always about relationships planting for biodiversity, leaving enough for the birds and the wild, and crafting remedies that are as much about story as they are about chemistry.

So when we looked for an artist to translate that love of hedgerows into a Christmas card, we wanted someone who understood patience and place.

A card that carries more than a picture

Our Christmas cards featuring Adriana Cicic’s rosehip artwork are more than seasonal stationery.

• Folklore – the old stories of love, protection and patience tucked into each small fruit.
• Herbal wisdom – generations of people turning to rosehip for nourishment and resilience through winter.
• Place – our own hedgerows at Ballymacavany, where rosehips shine through the mist 
• Craft – an artist’s careful hand , meeting the slow, plant-based work we do here on the land.

When you send one of these cards, you’re not only sharing a greeting. You’re sending a tiny piece of hedgerow, a promise of returning light, and a celebration of the quiet beauty that sustains us.