While the essentials of the process are pretty much universal, there are as many variations on procedure as there are practitioners!

I don't think my approach is by any means "definitive" but I think it does cover the basics quite well. Take a look.

You have a wonderful website Paul, it has great information about breeding roses. Thanks for posting it!

There is a lot of information if you do a google search Germinating rose seeds. I was amazed at the amount of information available.
Frank B

Thanks for the help everyone! Does anyone know how long rose seeds remain viable if stored dry and cool?

I beleive some members of RHA have had good luck germinating seeds that were up to 3 years old. One member was even able to get a few 20 year old seeds to germinate by removing the embryo from the seed coat. Not recommended unless you know what you're doing as you'll just end up with a bunch of squashed seeds, I know from experiance.

It still may possible to germinate the seeds this year, though I wouldn't recommend it in our climate. It takes anywhere from 3 to 5 months for seeds to germinate. The earlier ones would be germinating in June and might have time to develop before fall. The later ones would be germinating in August and wouldn't have time to put out much growth or to harden off before it starts getting cold.

Where did you get these seeds? Did you purchase them? Or did you collect them yourself? If you collected them, did you collect them last fall or just recently? Some people have had good luck germinating seeds that been frozen, but I always had the best results with fresh seeds. What kind of seeds are they? That can make a difference on how you treat them and how long they germinate.

Boy did I wait a long time to respond to your post ptgrose! Sorry about that! I made several crosses about 3 or 4 years ago and have had the seeds in ziplock bags in a cool, usually dry place. They were crosses between wild roses and English Roses and Buck Roses.

Paul, when you put the hips in the fridge in a baggie - do you keep the hips moist? Or just dry in the bag?
Thanks!
Carol

Hips are stored in bags "as-is". Once seeds are removed from the hips in January, they are returned to bags (new ones) with a damp piece of paper towel in the bag to maintain some moisture. Do not allow seeds to dry during stratification!

Thanks!
And are the bags sealed?
And are the bags that the seeds in sealed?
Little details seem to be bogging me down. :)
Thanks!

I can give an update regarding the seeds I was posting about back in 2009. I had rose seeds from several different crosses and various collected hips that I had cleaned and put on moist paper towels in ziplock bags and stored in the fridge for three years. I would check them evey two to six weeks (whenever I thought of it, basically). I would find one of two that had germinated each time I checked through the first two years. After that germination tailed off and when I didn't see any further germination after a few months, I discarded the rest of the seeds. I have several seedlings that have survived.