As we go through life and through the rose garden we collect experiences and perceptions of the fascinating, awe-inspiring world around us. This collection that we have gathered eventually becomes wrapped up into our own individual view of reality. Now it is important to note that each of us has a unique perspective of reality, and further, that most of what has become our reality, we are neither authors nor creators of the thinking that so heavily colors our perceptions and experiences. I say this partly as a disclaimer, because some of the ideas expressed here may sound a bit outlandish, and also as an admission that I am not the first to come up with many of these speculations that have become my own reality in rose hybridizing/breeding. I have been fortunate to spend moments with many in the rose world who have as much passion as I do for rose hybridizing/breeding. Certainly, many of the ideas expressed here are a conglomeration of thoughts extracted from those times of sharing. 1. First, is it hybridizing or breeding? For those of us who plant rose seeds it may be neither. Many of us plant open-pollinated seeds. The bees did it, and usually, (I am speculating) the resulting seeds are from self pollination. The rose on which the hip was formed acted as both the female and male parents. This is not hybridizing and it is not breeding. However, it is a very important step in understanding the particular rose species, variety or cultivar that one is considering to include in their hybridizing/breeding program. By planting open-pollinated ("OP") seeds one can get an idea as to the range of characteristics that the rose in question can endow it’s offspring. Whether it be flower color, petal count, form, fragrance, plant habit, vigor, disease resistance or any one of many other characteristics, if enough "OP" seeds are planted, much can be learned. In my experience (again, I am speculating), it is unlikely that a truly superior seedling will result from "OP" seeds. Usually, the best seedling in the group will look too much like the parent that it would be impractical to introduce it as a new variety. Sometime, however, an "OP" seedling will have much better fertility than the parent, and will be valuable in that way. An example of breeding roses, is crossing one modern variety/cultivar with another modern variety/cultivar. Since most modern varieties/cultivars have much of their ancestries in common, true hybridizing is not taking place. Nevertheless, what is taking place is something very beautiful. And much beauty results from these efforts. This is how most of the new roses that are registered with the ARS are created. This is how even most of the David Austin roses are created -- by rose breeding. And this is how the majority of the AARS winners have been created -- by rose breeding. True rose hybridizing happens when roses from different species lines are crossed with one another. This is a very difficult process and one that frequently results in off-spring that if not sterile, have very low fertility. So, it can be quite grueling to carry forward new "blood" into modern roses. My hat is off to Mr. Ralph Moore for all of the work that he has done in this important area. The work that he has done with Rugosas, Moss and Hulthemia hybrids is well known. It is in this area, that new ground is being broken, uncharted seas crossed, and imaginative dreams are being played out. Exciting work, and very hard work. I must admit that most of what I am doing is rose breeding, which is why I tend to use that term to describe the production of new roses by throwing pollen around the green house. And wow, is it fun! 2. Roses are just like apples. But remember, comparing apples with apples, is sometimes like comparing apples with oranges! As is often mentioned, roses and apples come from the same family (oranges do not!). But among apples, one can find a humongous range of fruit. Some are very sweet, some are very sour; some are red while others are yellow, green, pink or striped; some have a very short ripening period, others seem to take forever; some require a long winter chilling period, while others do not. This helps explain to me why just when I think that I have figured out the best way to maximize germination of my carefully and painstakingly prepared rose seed, that something different happens -- usually a much lower germination than expected (or hoped for). The fruit on some rose cultivars ripens very early, while that on others ripens very late. Some rose fruit are orange when ripe, but others are yellow, or may even remain green. In our Bakersfield, CA climate, some rose hips will ripen (green), dry up and fall off long before the hips of other cultivars have even begun to show any color. This is particularly true of Crystalline. To the other extreme, Sexy Rexy will first be seen to have dried up sepals as a signal of ripening weeks before the hips turn color. Some rose seed require little or no chilling period for germination to take place, while others germinate 2 or 3 years after being planted. Most of us have settled on some form of damp, cool stratification for 6 to 12 weeks, which seems to result in an average of about 25% to 33% germination in the first year. But, why is it that our most anticipated crosses have such poor germination rates, like 2% to 5%, and others may have 80% to 85% germination rates? I wonder if anyone has tried storing seeds at 32 degrees F. for a whole year to improve on germination? I would speculate that the seed from some cultivars would all germinate into a tangled mess in the paper towel and be rendered useless, while others would truly have an improved germination. 3. Other beliefs about rose seed germination. There are several other beliefs that I hold regarding rose seed germination. One, is that fresh rose hip pulp contains inhibitors of germination, but that rotting rose hip pulp contains germination promoters. This belief comes from my observations that rose seed that has been planted in a rapid, haphazard way after extracting seed in the blender and not carefully removing all of the fresh pulp before planting results in much lower germination rates. Conversely, I have inadvertently left rose hips too long in the refrigerator only to find a brown slimy mess, but an improved germination rate upon planting the seeds. Now, I must mention that it is possible for that brown slimy mess if left too long, to ultimately digest and destroy all of the rose embryos - this speculation comes also from prior experience. Another observation that I have made is that when seeds from a particular cross are found to be germinating in the paper towel at planting time, that it is much more likely that if there are more than one seed germinating in that paper towel, that the germinating seeds are in close approximation to one another. I am led to believe that the local environment in the paper toweling is conducive to germination -- that there are some chemical promoters present either in the seed coats, the surrounding scant remaining rotting rose hip pulp material or in the germinating rose seedlings themselves. I wish that I could isolate the promoter(s) that would improve my germination rates. For the last 2 years, I have kept rose hip pulp rotting in my garage hoping to next year have the time to set up an experiment using the rotting material to wrap into the paper towel with the seeds to see if germination is helped. I really think that it would work. And I think that I will finally try this experiment next year! I have planted whole, mushy, ripe rose hips and had pretty good germination of the seeds contained within, but it is very difficult to separate the seedlings to space them appropriately. I have also had observations that seem to go against this inhibitor/promoter theory. On one occasion, I have found within a firm ripe hip, actually an already germinated rose seedling -- within the hip! I have also observed this in grapefruit. Nevertheless, I still speculate that the best promoters for rose seed germination will be found within rotting rose hip pulp. 4. Other thoughts about roses and apples... Everyone knows that to make apple trees produce nice big apples that you’ve got to prune the trees. If you don’t prune them, you are likely to get lots of smaller fruit that are full of seeds......Well.... roses that are pruned hard might produce some nice big hips, but you’ll get more hips and lots more seeds if you only lightly prune the roses. I found this out the hard way. When I first started to try my hand at rose breeding, I decided to use the much talked about easy to breed with Rise ‘n Shine. For two years, I carefully pruned that rose in the fall, and for two summers I got practically no seed set. It wasn’t until I had so many roses that I wasn’t able to keep up with all of the pruning, and the Rise ‘n Shine plant got neglected (did not get pruned) that I had hundreds of hips form on a single plant. So prune your apple trees, but only lightly prune your rose seed parents! Finally, I really like apples - apple sauce, apple pie and apple turnovers, but I love roses, especially new roses that have never before been seen. Plant rose seeds and you will enjoy them too!