I'm not an old rosarian. Species roses would be the ones growing more true from seed especially if self-pollinated. From my understanding on a hybrid self or open pollination, there are millions of possible combinations.It would be worthwhile if only to say that is a rose i hybridized, as for worthwhile in terms of a rose more beautiful, vigorous and disease resistant than what is currently available probably not.

Yes there are millions of possibilities. I've done this several times. I planted seeds from Madame Isaac Periere and got 5 different roses that I could name myself. The first rose that I planted seeds from was Eva. One of the results was a lovely little polyantha! I've done this with HTs too. Sometimes the roses aren't great, but what fun!

Pam--How does one gather and plant the seed? Do the seeds come from the hips? What are 'open pollinated' seeds and how does one accomplish it? I am thinking of trying this for fun and would like to know how to go about it.

Great post!

Open pollinated means pollination by nature; as opposed to controlled pollination, which is what the hybridizers do. An open pollinated rose could be selfed or could be pollinated by another plant nearby--just depends upon where the bee was immediately before he hit the blossom that produced the seed pods you are now collecting.

I asked about this because I have had fun growing other plants from seed, but for some odd reason--maybe because there are so many roses available propagated by cuttings--have never tried it with OGRs. And now 'tis the season' for collecting seed.

If someone who does this could post a quick 'how and when to', I'd be grateful. Also a list of abundant seed parents among the OGRs would be useful.

You can check out Paul Bardens website Old Roses and Beyond under Resources Guide there are a couple of articles on germinating rose seeds..or you can use this simple method:
Take your mature hips and remove the seeds-wash off the pulp if any(it inhibits germination maybe)
Put your seeds in a ziplock bag with a handfull of damp sand, close it up and stick it in the Fridge.
Start checking your baggie after a month or so. When you see a seedling pick it out and plant it carefully in a pot of commercial potting mix(less suceptible to damping off)
After a while if you get no more seedlings take the baggie out and let it sit in a warm room and watch for more seedlings. Treat your rose children like any baby seedling. they eventually will bloom-in some cases surprisingly early-eeny tiny plants with huge blooms. the first blooms might not be as full as future mature plants
Have fun!

patricia

What I did last year was simple actually, it's really fun!

There was a big hip on my 'Queen Elizabeth', I placed a baggie around it to stop birds or other animals that might take a taste and loosely tied it with a tie-thingermabob. Sometime in I think October, when the hip is entirely red/orange and less firm, and the flower stem starts to brown, it's okay to pick the hip.

Some people let their seeds stay in the hip for a awhile after that. I immediately shelled it, as in took the hip into the kitchen and picked out the seeds. Some hips will have practically all seed to their substance, like multiflora hips, or can be very pulpy ( you can make jam out of that part) and have fuzzy down prickles filling up most of the space, such is the case with many rugosas you see at the beaches in Mass or Maine.

Some people actually fill a blender with water, with sand and quickly sand blast the seeds, but I didn't, I was afraid I'd chop them up.

Once seeds are cleaned you can take a paper towel and dip it in a solution of water and diluted hydrogen peroxide. There are other methods and alternatives to the peroxide, but I'm not sure what.

Now it is time for stratification. I placed the seeds in the paper towel, made sure it was damp but not soakingly wet, fold it for security- then place it in a another baggie. I tape the baggie closed or label it with tape what it is. Generally, if picking hips off of your plants that occurred naturally, you mention the mother plant. Thus if your seeds came from a 'Queen Elizabeth' plant, your seedlings will be 'OP Queen Elizabeth seedlings'. If you put pollen from a different plant one another plant deliberately you label it
female x male order, which means you list the bush that's formed the hip, " the mother", followed by the "father" who provided the pollen.

You then stick it in the fridge and leave it there for a good few weeks to months. You will start to know if you have germination if the seed coats crack and small things can be visible inside. I sometimes wait for a bit of root formation before planting them, I wanted to be sure.

It takes patience, so put it in a place you'll forget about and not bother, like in the butter compartment or something.

When you do get some germinations, you can plant the seed in flats shallowly in a very light medium, some people use sand and perlie, other use perlite and other mixed mediums, it just has to be light. You then shine a light (any flourescent light will do, on the flat or pot for a good portion of the day.

Since I'm very interested in breeding, and purchase things with breeding in mind, OGR'S are very worthwhile in breeding, however a good number are unfortunately considered dead ends due to sterility.

Alba roses, despite having plentiful hips, have a weird chromosome count, thus have difficulty being used in a breeding program.

Gallicas seem to be a good class to experiment with, although some are sterile. Same with damasks, a good number of them are sterile.

Noisettes are really good. Paul Barden told me that 'Crepuscule's' pollen should be tried on ANYTHING.

Thanks Patricia and oath5. I think I will give this a try.

Growing roses from seed can be worthwhile and fun and I try to do it every year. I collect the hips in the fall once the pedicle turns brown. That's how I determine when the hip is ripe. I try to remove the seeds from the hip as I go along as the process can be long and tedious if you wait do them all at once. Once the seeds are collected they need to be stratified over the winter in potting soil in the refrigerator or an unheated garage.

In the spring, about April 15 for me, I spread the seed soil mixture over the surface of a raised bed in the garden. I cover the area with wire mesh to keep the squirrels and chipmunks from eating the seeds. The seed will start to sprout in a few weeks. If the little plants are too close together, I wait for a nice rainy day and carefully transplant them into little rows in the raised bed. By fall they are usually about 6" tall or more. If they don't make any more growth than this, I probably don't want the plants anyway as they would not be vigorous enough for my landscape. They generally flower the following June.

Collecting the seeds is an important part of the process. My own experience is that in my neighborhood on Cape Cod there is apparently a huge amount of pollen floating around from Multiflora, Canina, and Virginiana. That being the case, most of the roses produced look very much like the pollen parent, sometimes with extra petals or different foliage etc. I also have a rose garden in upstate NY composed primarily of OGRs. In this isolated location there are no other roses around the neighborhood so I take my hips from these roses with more confidence that the open pollinated cross will be with another OGR.

For me, the fun is in the process. I am not concerned with whether the results are going to be more vigorous, beautiful or disease resistant than other roses in commerce. I enjoy growing plants and enjoy the experience of producing little roses from seed. When one is rewarded with a unique plant that you enjoy, that just adds to the experience.

these are great tips, thanks so much

If you use a repeat blooming rose such as a tea,hybrid tea, china, mini or floribunda, the seedling will flower when very young. Otherwise it will take a couple of years.
Harm Saville's instructions were to shell out the seeds, dump them in a two glug to the gallon solution of chlorox and discard the floaters. Then roll up the seed in a Bounty towel and place in fridge until they sprout.
For planting I like to put a pinch of milled sphagnum moss on top of the potting soil to prevent damp off. Or you can water the planted seeds with a dilute fungicide (daconil or captan). Put pots in sunny window or under lights and watch them grow.
Note that the first couple of leaves won't look at all like a rose so don't panic. It takes a while for it to send out compound leaves.
For more info check out the hybridizers forum.

Good luck! I'm trying this myself with some hips that were set by Francis Dubreuil. I'm hoping to get some different colors and forms--all with that great scent.