White Rose Bush seeds

I bought these seeds online a few weeks ago and now I realize they need to go through cold stratification before I plant them... which could take anywhere from 1.5 to 3 months. (website where I got them said 45-60 days... other sites said up to 8 to 12 weeks)

here's where I got them: http://www.ufseeds.com/White-Rose-Bush-Seeds.item

What should I do with these? Should I start the stratification process and plant them in late summer/early fall? Or should I store these somewhere for next year and start the process in mid-winter? Or is there a third option I'm not aware of?

Either of those two options would work. Hardy species have hardy seedlings... although the website declines to give any real information about the plant, so one can only guess that it's supposed to be hardy in your zone?
The third option is to sow them outdoors in fall and let nature stratify them for you.

Edit: Looking at the photo, I'd guess it's a hybrid tea rose, which are not exactly renowned for hardiness, and may require winter protection in your zone. The comment about "blooming all summer" would also fit with that. But, anyway, since you have the seeds, worth a try.
As a suggestion for the future, in order to avoid possible disappointment, it's best to buy from vendors who supply at least the basic, essential information about their products, e.g. what sort of rose it is, if not an actual cultivar name. Vendors who have a reputation to uphold will also, generally, supply germination instructions.

Edit: Correction, the vendor, in this case, does supply germination instructions.

This message was edited Jun 26, 2015 10:19 PM

Thanks (this forum is great. Someone always responds to my posts within a day)
What would winter protection involve? I only started growing plants this last year so I'm pretty new to it all.
Also, are there any reputable vendors you would recommend?

My gardening interests are likely different than yours, so my sources wouldn't help you much, but here's a resource that may be useful to find reputable vendors of whatever it is you're looking for:
http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/

Winter protection of tender roses generally involves burying the stems or at least the base under a mass of insulating material, e.g. bark mulch, peat moss, to prevent the stems from being killed by cold and dessicated by drying winds. With hope, someone else may be able to comment on the extent to which this extra effort may be necessary for tender roses in your zone.

However, given the information that you are a new gardener, my recommendation, if you want to grow roses, would be to go out and buy potted roses from a local greenhouse of hardy rose varieties, and plant them. In other words, not tender roses (not ones that need protection in order to survive the winters). Planting potted hardy roses is a whole lot more likely to end in a positive, satisfying rose-growing experience. (Save the tender roses for later...)

Sure, start the seeds... why not, you've already got them... but don't invest a whole lot of hope in this working out. It's pretty peculiar for anyone to even sell seed of tea roses... although, thinking about it, it wouldn't surprise me if the photo was one the vendor just grabbed from somewhere to help sell his "white rose bush" seeds, whatever they might actually be. Anyway, it's an awful lot of uncertainty for a beginner to take on, and to build expectations upon.

This message was edited Jun 26, 2015 10:05 PM

Put the seeds in the fridge as instructed.
Plant them in pots and keep them in the house through the winter.
Plant them in the garden when the weather stabilizes next spring.

While in the house grow them in the brightest, warmest window you have, or else use a grow light. A grow light is a bulb developed specifically for plants and is very high in the specific wave lengths of light that plant use the most of.

Well, just one more comment...
Winters are very long in the north, and inadequate light is probably the most common cause of seed-starting failure, after damping off. Unless you invest in a good light set-up, you won't have adequate light to keep the seedlings healthy through an entire northern winter... a window just doesn't cut it for most people.

So, if you plan to follow what Diana says, that is, for planting the resulting seedlings out next spring, it's better if you don't start the stratifying process until late 2015 in the fridge (or in a cold room if you have one). Then, a fluorescent light set-up can get them through the remaining winter...
The stratifying instructions at the site where you bought the seeds are correct... seeds have to be in a moist medium, e.g. moist vermiculite, sand, soil, or a moist paper towel inside a baggie, then exposed to periods of varying temperature (in this case, a cool temperature around 40 deg F, and always above freezing) to break down germination inhibitors. Unless the seeds are kept moist this way, they will not be "stratified". (Keeping seeds in a dry state in the fridge is fine for storing them, but it will do nothing towards breaking down germination inhibitors in the seeds that need stratification in order to germinate.)

See what you're getting into... ? ;-)

Thanks for all the input. I think I will store them and start the stratification process in the winter.
Is the fridge the best place to store them?

It's fine... they need to kept dry, is the main thing. Cool is fine too.