I usually wait until they're red or orange but there are certain varieties that never turn red or orange. I'm thinking Madame Lombard. I grow roses from seed every year. Once the hip is ripe I remove the seeds, put them between damp paper towel, and enclose in a plastic bag with a label. I put all the little bags into a larger zip lock bag and keep that in my fridge until some time in January. I don't like to collect the hips too early because I suspect that if they are refrigerated too long they might not germinate as well. If you wait too late to harvest the hips the seeds are more likely to be black. I am not sure if that matters. I collect the hips from late Sept. to November usually. By January some of the seeds are already sprouting in the paper towels. I just remove those carefully and plant them in flats. Other seeds will sprout once they are in the soil and the temperature is warmer than the fridge. Maybe you could plant them sooner than January but I do it in Jan. because I'm busy with Christmas. I grow them indoors under lights until spring.

I got a strong seedling from Teasing Georgia several years ago. It bloomed for the first time this year. I was thinking maybe it's a climber because it wanted to grow first, and bloom later. It reminds me a bit of Jude the Obscure. It seems to be healthy.

Some roses may not put out hips for a long time then surprise you with a hip or more. Sometimes I'll plant a particular variety for years with no luck and then all of a sudden one will sprout.

I am not a rose breeder...just a grower of open pollinated rose seeds.

Timber's Rose

Sometimes you get colors you weren't expecting. A seedling of Midnight Blue

Land of the Free