Seedlings of Rosa multiflora coming up in Tampa with ZERO cold stratification!

I've been growing roses from seeds since 1991 so I am stunned but delighted....barely a week ago I sowed seeds of wild Rosa multiflora mailed me from Missouri. I left the pot out in that rainy weather and PLANNED to then slip it in a produce bag for the usual three months of cold stratification in the fridge....moments ago I noticed that they are already germinating!!! IF any of the seedlings of this cold climate species grow and BLOOM here in south Tampa, my intent is to create a new race of Multiflora/Tea hybrids. I am PSYCHED!

http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=2.5366.5&tab=1

As I'd hoped, the nasturtiums are pushing up through the thick layer of chop-and-drop rose canes from when I hard pruned my monster 'Teasing Georgia' climbing rose. Soon the approx. 80 glad bulbs in that bed should emerge. The rose canes were VERY thorny and I had ZERO desire to drag them to the back yard. Plus the soil is getting sandy in that bed and I need to routinely add lignin and humus formers....I scattered all over it one 25 lb. bag of cheap unscented Publix cat litter, just $2.99, to add clay to the sand/mulch layer. By mid March this garden should be stunning! About two weeks ago I gave the rose about 4 gallons of a potent "nutrient soup" made from dried chicken poop, fish emulsion, trace elements, dolomite and animal feed grade urea that I let brew about 3 weeks...there is already a LOT of new growth emerging from the very hard pruned remaining canes.

I just got my water/garbage/sewage bill...due to some rain plus my perennial habit of using kitchen gray water on my gardens, my daily solar heated 1 gallon rain water showers in the back and retrieving that gallon, only peeing outdoors, deep mulching, relying heavily on home made Water Wise Container Gardens and rain barrels, the water use portion was just $6.27! Cool when I consider how many food crops and roses I grow here.

Over a number of years I created a large roses collection, mostly Old Roses, for my Denver clients Graig and Shanti. Here are a few views of them and some of their back yard pillar roses I trained up pressure treated roughhewn wooden poles.

When I see the severity of the drought in California I am reminded JUST how much my native Florida has dried up since I was a teen here in the 60s...no one then could have EVER imagined watering restrictions of any kind, much less watering just one day per week and a limited number of hours. So it boggles my mind to know of wealthy homeowners and some rosarians here who somehow obtain exemptions and water DAILY in incredible amounts, in one case seven gallons of water per rose per day on hundreds of roses, or vast swaths of hyper-thirsty St. Augustine lawn. Talk about a sense of entitlement and disregard for the environment, especially the rosarians who also use VAST quantities of pesticides!

In Denver, the rambler 'Hiawatha' grew like crazy for me and was INCREDIBLY cold hardy....so much so that it is one of VERY few roses that I have forgiven for being almost completely scentless. Here it is in July 2002. I tried it twice in Tampa my first couple of years back, but both died....is anybody in Florida having any success with it?