Rose hips take between 90 and 120 days to ripen. If you have that much time before they'll go dormant than I'd say go for it! It's too late for me here because my roses will begin to slow down sometime in October as the temps get colder and then go completely dormant in November sometime. That's why I do all my crosses in June on the first bloom.

Lux, Laurie Chaffin who co owned and operated Pixie Treasures mini nursery in Yorba Linda, once told me she continued pollinating all the way through Christmas and got germinations from the seed the following spring. Give it a try. The only thing you have to lose is what you pollinate this late and it could show you it's not only possible, but possibly more successful than earlier efforts. Kim

I think it's fine. Since roses don't really "go dormant" here, and the climate is relatively even year around, why should the rose seeds know the difference? As long as you can leave the hip on the plant until it is ripe, I don't see any reason it should not work, and I do it whenever I see two things in bloom that I want to cross.

The issue with germination is higher heat. I've often read germination is best at seventy degrees F and lower. Last year it was good through about eighty here, then stopped like a switch was thrown. If you can give them nearly the stated required time before hitting anything approaching "heat" there, it should work. I have harvested mine early due to foraging vermin and many were no where near turning any kind of color, same as last year. It didn't seem to make any difference. What did lower germination was weather and what I had seed created from. Many were well known to me to have low germination rates. Kim

Thanks kim and everyone else.

Luxrosa