Chilling your seeds in a refrigerator for about six to ten weeks encourages them to germinate faster once planted. However, you must take care to avoid keeping them cold for long as they can germinate while still in the refrigerator. Place your seeds on a paper towel before moistening them. Use half purified water and half peroxide to prevent the growth of mould. You can then place them in a plastic zippered bag, mark the date and variety before placing in a refrigerator set at 1 to 3 degrees C. The paper towel should remain moist for the entire period. You can check occasionally to see if it needs remoistening. Make sure you don’t freeze the towel.
I would definitely mix in some compost with your garden soil as this will improve the structure of it. The dusting with fungicide is useful as it prevents the risk of infection, however, if you keep an eye on them and be ready to spring into action then it could be worth trying without . As for planting, I would personally keep them inside for a while, give them a chance to strengthen up before putting them outside in the elements!
I planted mine in to the ground just like a normal rose bush, amending the soil with rose fertilizer and alfalfa meal. It is gorgeous, but because it's low to the ground, you should make sure to use drip irrigation or a soaker hose to water it so it doesn’t get black spots from the water splashing on the leaves. If yours is in a pot, let it go dormant in the garage or close to your home to keep the pot from freezing. Keep it watered and in the spring it should come back with more fertilizer to keep it happy.
This is a fungus called black spot. Left untreated, it can cause all the leaves on your roses to turn yellow and fall off. It will also affect nearby plants, as it spreads by spores. Remove ALL INFECTED material and throw it away or burn it. Do NOT leave it on the ground as this fungus is very hardy. It can survive winter and travels very easily, even after being removed from the affected plant. Spray your plants regularly (bi-weekly) in the growing season with a good fungicide (I like the Bayer products). You can also add a little bit of dish soap and baking soda to a spray bottle with water and spray the entire plant.
I too, have tried the cut rose flower method, but haven't yet been successful--perhaps because there are chemical additives that the roses have soaked up, or because there are no nodes (which are the points where new shoots grow out), or because the stems have spent much of their energy producing the flowers...BUT, perhaps if the flowers were immediately cut off and some rooting hormones applied to the bottom cut ends, that may work.
So grandma had the right idea in the first place, and she really did know what she was doing. It has always been fun to start roses from cuttings. Some people get their kicks by going "rose rustling" in the deserted cemeteries of old and forgotten mining towns. Others just take a twig from their favorite rose and stick it into the ground in their backyard. There is nothing complicated nor scientific about taking cuttings of roses and rooting them to "start" a new plant. There are various ways of taking rose cuttings, so let's tell you how.
Wonderful instructable! And THANK YOU! I have the most beautiful smelling rose in my backyard that was there when my father purchased the house (I purchased it from him... the house, not the rose, the rose just came with it :) ) and I've never been able to identify it or find anything that smelled nearly as sweet. It blossoms with two buds a year, consistantly, never producing more or growing any further. Both buds are now dead so I think I will cut them off the moment I get home and start this process. Maybe in a couple of years I'll have a whole patch of these magnificent bushes. Again, many kudos and thanks.
After the rose seeds have soaked overnight, rinse them in a strainer and place them into the blender with at least a cup of plain purified water (making sure all seeds are covered), and turn it on for a few minutes. It usually doesn't chop up the seeds, but rather, it will clean off the pulp remaining from the rose hip, which would otherwise mold if left on the rose seed. You may see a few seeds chopped up, but those usually aren't viable anyway. Flush the rose seeds again through a strainer using fresh purified water.