Can You Grow New Rose Bushes From Burying the Whole Rosehip Pod?

Harvesting your own rose hips can yield interesting surprises.

You can grow rose bushes from seeds you collect, but you must first remove them from the rose hip pod. Roses don't usually breed true from seeds. You may get some interesting rose bushes, as well as some not worth keeping.

Collecting Seeds

Harvest rose hips in fall, as soon as they are ripe, and remove the seeds from the hips by macerating the hips in water. The seeds will rise to the top. Thoroughly dry the seeds for storage.

Germination

Under normal conditions, many rose seeds take up to two years to germinate. Speed germination by planting the seeds in moist peat and keeping them at 80 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit until they germinate, which should take four to five months.

Cultivars

Most of the time, the rose bush you get from planting the seeds you collect is a surprise, looking nothing like the parent plant. This is because most roses grown today are hybrids with complicated genealogies, and because bees and other natural pollinators cross-pollinate plants as they feed.

References

• United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service
• Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Rosa palustris
• University of California: Master Gardeners of California- Growing Roses from Seed