I tried last year to grow roses from seed — for no compelling reason — but it didn’t go too well. When I saw the size of the rose hips from this summer’s heat, I decided I should try again. That hip is about an inch in diameter.
Roses don’t come true from seed: the ones you buy are all grafts or rooted from existing stock[1]. Apples are the same way: if you were to get an apple tree from the pips in that Red Delicious, it wouldn’t bear Red Delicious apples.
I cut it open to get the seeds out: I didn’t know how many there would be or what size they would be. The last time I tried this, the seeds were pretty small. Not so this time.
The seeds were about size of a corn kernel and I ended up with 19 of them. The next step is to wrap them in a moist paper towel, seal that in a plastic bag, and refrigerate for a month or so.
They should germinate in that environment and if so, I’ll see about transplanting and following their progress.
(interesting, a Google search for “rose seeds” calls up a lot of results for a variety of marijuana known as “Irish rose”.)