Here are some photos of the first germinations of seeds that I planted about a month and a half ago. All are open pollinated, meaning that the wind or bees fertilized the flower to cause the seeds to form. Many hybridizers don’t bother with open-pollinated seeds, preferring to plant only those seeds that result from their own planned breeding program. I, on the other hand, have a really wide ‘mad scientist’ streak. I plant OP seeds just to see what happens.
Maid Marion, a white noisette rose, produced tiny hips full of equally tiny seeds. These seeds germinated about two weeks after they were planted. Here they are two weeks ago:
This is what they look like now. I think they’re starting to look a lot more like roses.
It’s really exciting when these little guys bloom for the first time. Here are a couple of photos of my best seedlings from last year.
This is a seedling of an unknown yellow rose in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia. This is Mama … any idea what it is?
This one is a seedling of Souvenir du Dr. Jamain, a dark red hybrid perpetual. The seedling is very, very fragrant. I can’t wait to see how it does as it matures.
