The Basics of Care for Miniature Roses

Basics of mini roses

One of the first questions I get is “Are Miniature Rose Bushes delicate and Fragile?” The Surprising answer is miniature rose bushes and the care of miniature roses bushes, are very similar to that of the regular-sized rose bushes. They are actually pretty hardy.

Sunlight

Miniature Roses require a full 6-8 hours of good sunshine per day. They can survive with a bit less sun, but this will affect the way and how much they bloom. Like the larger rose plants, the less sunlight they have, the less they will bloom, in an aspect type ratio.

An example is if they need 8 hours of sunshine to produce 8 blooms, and they only get 6 hours of sunshine, then they will only bloom 6 times, instead of 8. This can have a huge effect on commercial rose crops as a reduction in light can mean a large flower production drop.

Feeding

For feeding I generally do a spring feeding with a good compost to give the soil a good boost of nutrients. When the first flower buds start to show I will then use a good organic food such as fish emulsion. I do this to provide them with an “extra” push to help flower production. I don’t use chemical fertilizers because these tend to strip away the beneficial flora in the soil and kill the microorganisms that help the plants.

Watering

I like to recommend watering of roses in inches, so a good 1 to 1.5 inches of water every week is good and what I give. The way I measure in inches is with a very inexpensive rain gauge that is found at the garden shop. I put it next to one of my rose bushes and then water it. When the water hits 1-1.5 inches I am done.

Once I get a good feel for this I can then generally eyeball the amount of water I give them each time. I don’t over water either, roses hate being saturated and standing in puddles of water.

Another way I figure out watering is to have the base of the rose in a circular valley or dirt moat. I fill the valley up with water once if it is 2 inches deep and let it drain. I do this one more time and then I am done watering for the next couple of days. That is how I water.

Soil

Roses, especially in pots, need to be put in good soil. Clay based soil is ok for roses, so is your average garden potting soil. Sandy soils are generally not good unless you are really vigilant and keep an eye on watering and maintaining good water levels. Letting a rose dry out will halt flower production and growth screeches to a halt.

Even if you decide to use sandy soils and use a lot of water it, a rose will not tolerate standing water for any length of time, and as an aside, this is not a good pond-side plant.

Pruning

So you just bought a new miniature rose plant and it’s covered with flowers, the first thing you want to do is prune it. First seek out and carefully prune back the old wilting or just fading roses. This should leave you with a small round bush or mound of canes.

Canes are what the branches of the rose bush are called. So try to manicure this to a well rounded shape with the center of the bush being slightly taller than the outer areas. If you have a choice in your cuts, definitely cut or “prune” so that an outward facing bud is at the top of the cane. If you don’t see one, don’t worry, later you will have one but for now just prune and shape.

Overwintered Roses

The period of time a rose goes through winter is called “Overwintering”. If you’ve gone through an overwinter with your roses and not sure what to do next, take a pick of 5-8 of the best, healthiest and thickest canes and prune away the rest. We want to focus the rose’s energy on feeding the best of the bunch and not the smaller ones.

If you’ve rooted a new bush from a cutting, don’t prune except to remove flowers before they start bloom. We want the energy to be put into root and leaf production, instead of blooms, this insures the new cutting will survive the season and have a better chance of staying the long haul.

Once it’s in its second year, then we’ll pruning the miniature roses as stated in the previous paragraph. An aside is that it might not throw too many canes in the first year but each year it will get larger and larger.

Since miniature roses are not grafted as the large varieties are, and are grown on it’s own root stock, canes that come from below ground are not a problem and can be left to grow. These canes will flower normally but also insure the growth of the root system. If these new grown canes are part of the 5-8 strong canes described in the previous paragraph, it is ok to leave them.

With these basic tips on the miniature rose bush, almost anyone can maintain a beautiful and healthy miniature rose garden. Miniature roses are in a class all by themselves as they are small and tiny, and have definite following all their own amongst Rosarians.

Raymond Reynolds has been growing roses for more than 20 years in San Diego. For more great tips on growing Roses, please see his website at http:www.rosebushcaretips.com

Tags: Care, Roses, Miniature, Basics

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