I snagged a few hips off a rose at the zoo last October and over the following weeks and months was pleasantly surprised to find about 10 precocious germinations. Through a series of escalating mistakes and impulse decisions they eventually found their overwinter home with in a plastic pot under a used cannabis grow light I bought off Facebook marketplace for $15 dollars. Kept company by a few more OP seedlings from some other roses.
Fancy stuff, right?
This was all meant to be practice for germinating and growing seedlings anyways, but the more I stare the more excited I am about this first bloom. The reverse is pretty standard, bright red with a subtle white stippling down the center of each petal:
But the front petals are a white that transitions to pink at the edges:
I’ve tentatively been calling them my “zoo seedlings” but hopefully next year I can go back and figure out what kind of rose the seed parent is. There was only one faded bloom on the plant, and my knowledge of rose types was rudimentary compared to now — somehow I’ve already spent 24 hours reading this forum in one month? — so I took just about the blurriest mental snapshot possible: I think it was a “groundcover” rose that was was some combination red or orange or yellow or pink. So like, I don’t know, maybe a peach drift rose or something? You see those a lot here.
There was only one rose in this bucket I was jazzed about, and this one was not it. The early growth was leggy and chlorotic, but since the newer growth has been alright I realize that it could very well have been from being transplanted three times, insufficient light and fertilizing, then excess light and excess humidity. Everything is looking good now except that I also have a spider mite problem. Plants are hard.
Only time will tell. Either way, I’m excited.
