Rose Seeds

I went to my bother-in-law's house the other day for may sister-in-law's birthday.  They had this beautiful rose bush that still had one rose flower on it.  This was surprising because of how cold it has been.  One solitary light (almost white) yellow rose.  It still had many rose hips where the other blooms used to be.  I felt compelled to ask my sister-in-law if I could have one of the rose hips.  My brother-in-law told me to go ahead and pick one.  He said it was full of blooms all year.  This plant was there when they moved into the house so no one is quite sure what breed it is.   My sister-in-law asked me if I have something to put it in.  I said that a zip lock baggy would do just fine until I got home, and that yes I have a pot to try to start them from seed.  She seemed happy when I told her I like to try and see what I can grow from seed.  After careful examination of the rose hips it looks like I have a lot of seed.  I am going to research if I need to do any preparation to the seeds before I plant them.
 
So this is the check list I have made:
pull the hips from the plant
Split the hip open
Remove the seeds
Make sure all hip tissue is removed (hair like fuzz) it will slow down germination.
 
The seeds have to be kept cold for at least 30 days some sites recommend up to 3 months.  The sites I went to recommended sterilizing the seed prior to putting it into cold storage (the refrigerator).  If you want to sterilize your seed just-in-case that is up to you.  I thought it was an awful lot of stuff that mother nature doesn't do so I chose to skip those steps.  I chose to wet some paper towel and place the seeds in it.  I then folded it up around the seeds and placed it in a zip lock baggy.  I labeled it and put it in the crisper drawer of my refrigerator.
 
Here is what the seeds look like:
 

 

 
 
I set a reminder on my phone to remind me to check their moisture content (they have to stay moist) twice a week.  They should be ready to plant no sooner than 12/12/13.  The best thing about growing seeds like this is that you get a wonderful surprise.  You never know what kind of combination Mother Earth gave to you until it blooms.
 
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