So I looked on the internet and found these directions from the Alaskan Rose Society:
So, any other words of wisdom?Mrs. Lester Mears of Palmer, a consulting rosarian of the American Rose Society, gathers rose hips at any stage of ripeness, from "one pink cheek" to mushy-ripe, preferably before the prolonged winter freeze.
Sowing rose seeds is easy. Here’s how Betty Mears does it. Mrs. Mears removes the seeds from the hips and washes them in a cup of water to which she adds a drop of detergent and a drop of laundry bleach. She rinses the seeds, then dries them on a towel. (Soak seeds in 3% peroxide for 24 hours - dispose of seeds that float.)
Milled sphagnum moss, saturated with water and squeezed dry, is mixed with the seeds. Mrs. Mears puts hers in a small jar, making sure some seeds are visible through the glass so she can tell when germination takes place.
The jar is covered lightly and stowed in the refrigerator, labeled and dated. you could use a plastic bag, secured with a twist-tie, and check it occasionally to keep it moist.
Depending on variety, rose seeds germinate in a 40-degree refrigerator in 30 to 120 days. When thread-like roots show through the jar, they’re ready for potting up, so check them as the time draws near. You may get one seedling, or many.
Shake the peat moss out of the jar and plant the seedlings in little pots or flats of commercial potting mix.
Set the pots on trays of wet gravel or enclose them in open plastic bags to create a greenhouse climate.
Give the young ones all the light you can, either at a window or under florescent tubes. Mrs. Mears turns her pots as the plants bend to the light and fertilizes them every other week with a diluted water-soluble fertilizer.
