Gee Whiz! I looked back at my post of 25 April to see what I started. Michelle – curiosity is something isn’t it? just can’t wait! Maybe the 10 lbs in a 5 lb bag is what you have – hope that is what I have as well. Hope the seed is viable for you and the hip comes thru OK. I believe all of us who posted will do some checking when harvest time draws near. We have one on the “elephant” that will be ready for plucking in about three weeks. Hope all will join in the posts and let us all know what you found as I’m sure we are all a tad interested in this.
Michelle, I did the same thing, although this was on a cross that I really am excited about: Louise Estes x Color Magic. The hip is pretty well along, and this seed was big and plump and not too fried, so I thought it might have a chance.
I gently plucked it off and it went flying across the yard. So much for that experiment.
The English Rose ‘The Squire’ has a tendency to produce exogenous seeds in a small number almost every year, regardless of the pollen parent. I don’t see this happening on any other of my roses. Today’s inspection showed that this year this characteristic is particularly prolific on every hip of this rose. The high temperatures over several weeks have probably led to some heat stress. As it is really worthwhile in terms of quantity this year, I will separate the exogenous seeds in fall to see if they actually germinate. Have you had any new findings regarding the germination capacity of such seeds in the meantime? That would be interesting to know.
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I’ve certainly had reasonable germination from such seeds–actually, the seed itself is well protected inside the achene, which in turn is covered in a thin aril. It’s usually the aril that becomes darkened first, but the achene (and seed within) are often okay as long as a pathogen has not managed to work its way through to the seed within.
Stefan
Thank you so much! That’s good news for me.