The patented rose bush you buy consists of branches from the patented variety grafted onto a rootstock variety. Everything that grows from the grafted portions is true to the parent. Rooted cuttings are another way to propagate patented roses. Cuttings also keep the new plants true to the parent. A plant patent lasts for 20 years. According to plant patent laws, you must have a license agreement to asexually propagate patented plants, even as a hobby in your own back yard. This includes grafts and cuttings. This article is about allowing your roses to reproduce sexually by creating natural seeds.
In your home rose garden, your roses are open pollinated. This means they are randomly pollinated by bees, insects or wind. If you allow the pollinated rose blossom to remain on the plant, the ovary will form a “hip” full of seeds. You will know the origin of the “mother” half of the rose seeds, because that’s the one where the hip develops. The pollen can come from any number of roses, so the other half of the genetic make up can be quite diverse. On some types of roses the hips look like little berries, and on others they are large, perhaps 1/2 or 3/4 inch in diameter. Harvest your rose hips after they have ripened. Hips are usually red or orange when ripe, but some remain green.
A rose hip may contain 20 to 50 seeds. The great thing about them is that each seed will produce a genetically different plant. You never know what you’ll get from the seeds in the same hip. The plant characteristics are completely haphazard; some plants will be climbers, some will be red, some yellow, some may have clustered flowers, or they may be single or double petalled. The seeds are grab bags of genes, just waiting for a curious gardener to give them some space.
To grow rose plants from the seeds, the seeds must first be stratified. This means that you give the seeds a cool period of 3 or 4 months to simulate natural winter. Harvest rose hips, and open them and remove the seeds. Fold a damp (not wet) paper towel around them, place them in a Ziploc baggie and tuck them into the back of the vegetable crisper drawer in the refrigerator. Check the baggie after about 3 months; some of the seeds may have a tiny root sprout. Carefully move any sprouted seeds to small pots, and place them in a warm sunny place to grow. Sometimes I clip the hips from the bush and leave them in a protected place outdoors all winter, then open them and plant the seeds in the spring. Both methods work, but if you leave the hips outdoors, be sure to keep them in a mouse and squirrel proof container.
Seeds often do not sprout in the refrigerator, and they can be planted in soil the same way you plant seeds that have overwintered outdoors. Soak the rose seeds in water overnight. Plant them 1/4 inch deep in sterile growing soil, water them, and cover the container with clear plastic. I leave the cover slightly vented to allow some air circulation.
Rose seeds germinate anytime between 2 weeks and 3 months. It can take a VERY long time for some seeds to germinate. If any of the seedlings show signs of fungus or mold, destroy them immediately. Don’t bother treating them, because if the seedling is that susceptible to infections, the plant it would grow into would also be susceptible. It would be a constant problem in your garden, and you want to develop only hardy, healthy plants.
The first fall, allow the young plants to go dormant outdoors in their pots. Keep them in a protected place where they can still get sunlight. To prepare young rose plants for the winter, I put the pots in a small cold frame and tuck clean straw mulch all around them, with a little straw over the tops of the plants. They need the natural dormancy, but you don’t want to overexpose them to harsh winter. A pot of wet soil that freezes like a brick around the little plant roots causes extreme damage to young plants. Humus rich potting soil helps prevent this.
The following spring, your little rose plants will wake up and begin growing again. Some rose plants may bloom the first year, and some may not bloom until the third year, so be patient. While you’re waiting, save some more rose hips from this year’s blossoms to plant next spring…
If you deadhead your roses, you are removing the hips. To allow seeds to develop, you must allow some roses to remain on the bushes after they fade.
CAUTION: Planting rose seeds can become addictive, and you may find yourself converting your entire lawn to rosebeds.
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Resource:
Personal Experience
Excellent photos and info here: http://scvrs.homestead.com/HybridizeKB1.html
