Miniature Rose

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Origin

Miniature roses are wonderful plants that offer all the beauty of typical roses in a smaller, more compact version. Some are fragrant while others aren't, but they surely display lovely flowers either way.

Just like many other types of garden roses, miniature roses have somewhat unclear origins. They're the result of complex hybrids between multiple species that over many centuries have been selected and hybridized. The miniature roses we love and grow today are not directly descended from a single naturally occurring plant - they're man made over many generations.

Care

Watering

Miniature roses are very prone to harm from drying too much. The soil should always be at least very lightly moist before watering the plant, but never stay totally wet for any longer time - overwatering can also be a problem.

Soil

When buying a plant, they're often rather pot bound. It can therefore be a good idea to immediately move it to a slightly bigger pot - doing that will also help the plant get a more even moisture level for the roots.

The plant has rather delicate roots so be careful when moving it to the new pot. It's often best to just lift it from the old pot, fill some new soil in the bottom of the new pot, place the plant in it and fill soil around the root ball. Water it after the repotting and remember to mark the plant as both watered and repotted in Planta.

Try to avoid removing old soil or disturbing the roots more than necessary. The soil line should be kept the same as before - planting it deeper can risk causing some stem rot. It's best to use a porous and airy soil mix, or a soil mix adapted specifically to roses.

Indoors or outdoors?

One of the more common problems these plants encounter are issues followed by keeping them indoors. We therefore recommend not keeping them indoors at room temperature for more than a couple of days at max if you want to display the flowers - but even that can stress a plant more than necessary.

These are temperate to subtropical plants that do best if they receive some temperature changes from day to night. Low humidity and a lack of wind indoors will also affect the plants negatively and tend to stress them.

Acclimating them to be outside

Although they prefer to grow outside they will have to be acclimated to such a setting slowly in order to not get harmed. They're often brought directly from production greenhouses to stores when you buy them and they're not yet used to being outside even though that's the setting they will do best in in the long run.

You can move the plant to a sheltered area outdoors without direct sunlight exposure and too much wind to start with. Do this when the temperatures at night are at least about 50 F most of the time. Keep the plant in that spot for about two weeks - after that you can slowly move it to be increasingly exposed to more direct sunlight and wind a little at a time. Eventually it will do best when it's used to direct sunlight at least half of the day.

If you live in an area with freezing temperatures in winter you might buy or receive a miniature rose as a gift when the weather isn't allowing it to be moved outdoors just yet - the plant is simply not in phase with the season outside yet. In such cases try to keep it in a cooler, bright room or a dark cool room with a grow light until you can move it out later on. If such an environment is hard to find a draft window without heaters nearby can also be the next best thing.

Winter hardiness

Miniature roses are often rather hardy for their size, although the hardiness can differ some between specific varieties. They're often grown on their own roots, not using a rootstock to graft them onto. That generally means the plants are less winter hardy compared to other normal sized garden roses. Since they're also often grown in pots that are more exposed to the elements in winter, it's best to store them in a location sheltered from most freezing temperatures throughout the dormancy - just to be safe.

At temperatures below about 50 - 45 F they're usually deciduous and will lose their leaves naturally when they go dormant. Above that they tend to keep the leaves throughout the dormant period.

Blooming

Many, but not all varieties are repeat bloomers when it comes to miniature roses. They will often give you a big display of flowers when buying the plant, or early in the growing season but they can also make some flowers now and then throughout the warm season for as long as you remove spent flowers continually.

How long individual flowers last depends a lot on the temperature. At room temperature the flowering is shorter and you can count on it lasting for about five days to a week. In cooler temperatures it will last longer, usually close to double that time.