This is a fun and very enlightening discussion folks! Your story about New Dawn, Kim, seems to support the notion that the extent to which hips interfere with a rose's blooms depend on the "energy" reserves that the rose has to draw upon. Tough as nails roses like Knockout (as Michael mentioned) or the roses Jackie and Zack mentioned have such a reservoir of health and energy that hips are unlikely to affect them much in any climate unless something else interferes with their vitality. Notorious wimps like Tom Brown or Grey Pearl might be killed by one hip any time anywhere, assuming they set any in the first place. In your story of New Dawn, it sounds like the rose was able to build up a greater store of energy reserves in a climate pattern more to its liking, and therefore the hips affected it to a much lesser extent. I was wondering a related question to Michael's - is every rose hip that spontaneously appears on a bush pollinated so as to produce viable seed, and could it matter that you are deliberately trying to get your roses "pregnant" in your breeding efforts, which might take more energy for the rose than a random hip popping up here and there. I'm thinking of the analogy of chickens, and I don't know if it applies here. When chickens have a set of fertilized eggs, they shift all their energies from laying new eggs to brooding and caring for the bunch. The unfertilized eggs that we eat are expected to be "ever-blooming", however, every day or two. I imagine that you're also leaving the hips on the rose far longer than the random hips I encounter, which also makes a difference as you've already said in the recycle rate. Related to your squirrel comment, would it help to tie a netting or panty hose segment over the crosses to keep it on the bush even if the critters mess with it? Exhibitors seem to do something of the sort for show blooms. I could totally see me getting manic if a cross that I've waited years to develop got carried off by a witless tree rat that didn't really want to eat it anyway, and buried it somewhere in my neighbor's yard! Thanks for the enlightenment, everyone! Cynthia

We sure did not know triple_b ! You would be welcome Florence. You can just pick a little amount of rose petals during the summer (Zephy is a good choice!) and keep them in small bags in the freezer until you have enough to make the jam). Btw Here is another great link for all the rose products one´s heart can desire. (Including the Rose Petal Jam). Best Rose Oil, Water (Get the little atomizer!). I use the Rose Oil in aromatherapy lamps and it scents the house those winter days when I long for roses and summer and read rose books. Do check this link there is lots of information and pictures about the production of Bulgarian rose products. Here is a link that might be useful: Bulgarian Rose Oil and products

Thanks Jackie, I have been watching for hips at the local stores and nuseries on Drifts. I wanted to get a drift that produced hips. But they seem to dry before they set. No local store has peach, like yours. Guess peach is the one to get. I saw a pink with hips at one nursery. None of the other pink Drifts they had produced hips; they dried before they developed. Except for one pink. It was in a neglected basket. The plant looked almost dead, but it set hips, like in a last attempt to multiple. I asked the owner if I could have the hips; he said sure. Then I wondered if hips on the pinks were actually rare, or not. Or if hips on any Drift was rare. So I am glad to hear rose hips are set on Peach. Thanks for the info, Bob

I have started roses from seed for the past 3 winters. I gather the hips as soon as they are fully ripe. I take the seed from the hips and plant them immediately. I have had good luck with some and not so good luck with others. I got 40+ plants from seed from one rose last winter. There have been a couple of dozen of the seedlings that have bloomed a couple of times already. I pot them up when they start to bloom. The ones that did not bloom, I tossed. The mother plant of these seedlings is Summer Wind which is a single bright orange. The seedlings range from solid white single to orange double. Seems no two are exactly alike. The rose seed seem to germinate in cool weather. I have never had one to germinate when the weather was hot. I have also had seed to germinate and bloom within a couple of months from 4th of July, Golden showers and some unknown that I did not label. Lots of fun. Go for it....