Gardening Roses

Planting Rose Seeds

Question

I picked some fruits from my rosebush. I would like to know if they will give roses if I plant the seeds and, if so, how to go about it?

Diane Bernier

Rose seeds
Rose seeds. Photo: Bev Currie, flickr.com

Answer

Of course they will give roses! On the other hand, it is very likely that the plants thus obtained will not be identical to the mother plant. Most roses that we cultivate are hybrids and have a very mixed genetic background. Plus, who knows which rose bush is the baby’s other lucky parent? Indeed, bees can go from flower to flower, bringing with them the pollen of several different rose bushes!

Growing Roses From Seed

Rosehip containing rose seeds
The rosehip contains seeds. Photo: Marco Verch Professional P, flickr.com

To grow roses from seed:

  • Crush a ripe fruit (rose hip) and remove the seeds.
  • Rinse them under running water to remove any remaining flesh.
  • If you’ll be storing them for later planting, place them on an absorbent surface and let them dry off first.
  • Sow them outside, barely covering them. It’s best to do this in the fall. The majority of roses need to go through a cold period to germinate. You could also sow them in a pot and then place the pot in the refrigerator for three months.
  • In the spring, with the return of warm weather, or when you take the pot out of the fridge, small plants will grow.
  • Plant them out in a sunny, well-drained location. Roses are tolerant of heavy clay soils, at least as long as the drainage is reasonable.

Arm Yourself With Patience

Flowering rosebush
It can take a few years for your rosebushes to produce flowers. Photo: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, flickr.com

Usually, your roses won’t produce flowers for two or even three years when you grow them from seed.

To increase blooming, apply a slow-release organic fertilizer in early spring. Apply again after the first bloom. In mild climates where roses flower most of the year, a third application at the end of August may also be worthwhile.

Maintenance

Rosebushes with a soaker hose for irrigation.
. Try watering roses with a soaker hose or drip irrigation system. Photo: exclusivedn, 123rf.com.

In times of drought, roses appreciate deep watering. Try watering them with a soaker hose or drip irrigation system. Both water the soil without wetting the leaves, the ideal situation for preventing rose diseases, as they tend to occur mostly on wet leaves.

Note too that it’s also possible to grow your own roses from cuttings and that these will be identical to the mother plant!

Garden writer and blogger, author of 65 gardening books, lecturer and communicator, the Laidback Gardener, Larry Hodgson, passed away in October 2022. Known for his great generosity, his thoroughness and his sense of humor, he reached several generations of amateur and professional gardeners over his 40-year career. Thanks to his son, Mathieu Hodgson, and a team of contributors, laidbackgardener.blog will continue its mission of demystifying gardening and making it more accessible to all.

4 comments on “Planting Rose Seeds

  1. Thank you for this info. Alosohbet is best for you.

  2. Selamlar harika bloglardan biri olan bu site admin çok be?endim. Ellerin dert görmesin. Thank you very nice artichle 😉

  3. Such a fertilizer will likely not bear mineral numbers higher than 8 or 9. And use it in the spring or early summer, certainly not at the end of the summer or in the fall of https://testmyspeed.onl/.

  4. ‘True to type’ seed was coincidentally a topic of my gardening column just recently. It sometimes comes up in regard to avocadoes. It is impossible to predict what the fruit of seed grown avocado trees will be like, but of all such trees that I have ever met, I met only one that produced unappealing fruit. Of course, there is also the issue of juvenile growth of such trees for the first few years.

Leave a Reply

Sign up for the Laidback Gardener blog and receive articles in your inbox every morning!