One of the guys at work brought me a ziplock bag with some dried rose heads in it. He was wondering if I could start a plant from the seeds. I have never tried this before. The way he describes the rose it sounds gorgeous. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks Deanna :-D
You need the rose hips for seeds and the hips need to be fully ripe or there won't be any seeds. If he brought you what he deadheaded then there probably aren't any seeds and if the variety is one that doesn't produce hips then there won't be seeds either. Wash off the seeds, wrap in paper towel, place in zipper bag and put in fridge for 4-5 weeks. Then start checking for signs of little roots coming from them. That's when you pot them up with about 1/4 inch soil over them. Keep them inside until you see signs of green, then treat them like any other seedling before planting outside. Also, the roses you get may not be like the parent plant depending on whether it was a grafted rose, hybrid or not.
These things he brought me are loaded with big seeds! It isn't the red hip (I don't think) it isn't red and round, it is an actual head. The seeds haven't dried out, they are kind of yellow and about the size of a sweet pea
There are some roses whose hips are yellow or orange too. And I have seen some hips that are oblong instead of round, just depends on the variety. Try the refrigerator method on them and see if any sprout. There are so many varieties and hybirds that possibly one set of rules doesn't apply to all. Hope they sprout and grow for you, it would be fun to see pictures of them when they do too.
I just put them in a damp paper towel in a ziplock! I'd love to send pictures but you know I'm camera challenged
Rose seed are notoriously pokey to germinate. The ziplock treatment you are being advised in earlier posts is one way to to cold stratify seeds. I used to overwinter seed ina pot with moist soil in a cold frame for a whole winter. Still on some years only a few would germinate. Do not despair. Discard spent soil in a bed where you can find it again. Often rose seed will then germinate after a second winters nap.
Stratsmom... did your seeds germinate? I started some from seed a couple of months ago. I just put them in some regular potting soil and placed them in my "seed starter setup". Miraculously, a couple of them sprouted. One is doing very well... about 2 inches tall now. The other is struggling, but at least it's still alive.
So sorry to hear that. If there's a next time... why not give it an old fashioned try like I did? Who knows... it just may work.
