I was given some open pollinated Black Ice hips last fall. (Thank you John Jelinek!) Inadvertently, they did not get the cool moist stratification I normally give my rose seeds. They were removed from the hips and kept cool, but that is all. When I found them, I assumed germination would be poor because of this. I sowed them the same day I planted tomato seeds and planted them thickly, still thinking germination would be poor, because they did not receive that cool moist stratification I always thought was essential.
They came up sooner, and thicker, than the tomatoes did. They were germinating in less than a week. As you can see, I will have to transplant soon.
Tom
I don’t usually use anything that would require a “winter”, and I primarily use refrigeration to delay germination until a more suitable time. I have frequently found un refrigerated seed from non “Arctic” types germinate faster than those I’ve held in the “cold”.
These certainly did. I may try both ways next year and see what works better.
I still have Black Ice. It’s from Gandy in England. It’s a vigorous grower and has good disease resistance. It sets a lot of seeds in various crosses and they sprout easily. Nice cut flower. I’ve used it in quite a few crosses. One cross between Black Ice and Jude the Obscure is growing up to be a short climber.
Glad you had good luck with the Black Ice seeds!!