Last years planting of NS came through just fine. There is just the slightest amount of winter needle burn on a few, but nothing major. Funny how weather and climate works sometimes.........I am certain our lowest low temps far exceeded yours, Spruce, but we had continuous snowcover from early December right through the winter, and probably less frost depth than you experienced in ol Virginny. Some slightly larger Abies nordmanniana did burn to a bright orange-brown after one of the late winter thaws exposed them to the air. But even these appear to be okay.......buds full and hard. Likewise the handful of Green Giants.....quite burnt looking, but here too, I think, okay in the long term. I have a number of Thuja o's from the woods I still plan to transplant this spring. It actually got quite dry here through the first half of April, but after three or four days of rain, that's certainly no longer the case. BTW, Spruce, thanks so much for the email. +oM

Any of the roses are going to produce "rose hips" (the fruit). The quality of them for any purpose is going to vary (from individual plant to plant as well as species). Rosa cannina is NOT a native US plant. If you have any places that you feel free to wander, I'd just wander about in Sept/October and see what you find. No rose hip is going to be toxic (by nature), though the amount of vitamin C will vary. Here is a link that might be useful: Rose Hips

Ripe rose hips are usually orange or red (but can sometimes be green). Depends on the varity. If the hips are in the fridge, you are "cold stratifying" them. Try a search on this forum for cold stratification, and you may find more info. I'll try to check back on this thread and post more info when I have the time.

Hi! I have stratified seeds of mini wild roses, rosa canina. They are starting to germinate and I have wayyyy to many. They look like this: http://www.online-flowers-delivery.com/Rosa%20canina2.jpg Let me know if you want them, I can mail them to you. PS: The bushes I took them of are no more then 2 feet high. There are planted in front of an old church, grown as an edgerow in downtown old Quebec city. They were probably imported from Europe long time ago.