Miniature Rose Easy to Grow, Versatile
A rose is always a rose--even when its perfectly formed bud is no larger than a grain of wheat.
A grain of wheat? Yes, that’s the size of the buds on “Si!,” a miniature rose of micro-mini proportions; the leaves are as small as the flowers. Coming from Spain, this tiniest of all miniature roses has soft pink flowers that open to less than half an inch across, on a plant that is only four to six inches high.
Grown on their own root stock rather than being grafted, miniatures are genetically stronger than the larger roses that they closely resemble. When mature they make fully branched, round, shrub-type plants up to two feet in height with flowers of twoinches or less in diameter.
Miniature roses possess, in a smaller form, the one-to-a-stem elegance of hybrid teas, the sprays and clusters of a floribunda, the rambling habits of a climber. Some easily adapt to cascading from hanging baskets, others can be grafted and grown as small trees that may get as tall as 2 1/2 feet. As a class, miniatures are more prolific and hardier than most of the larger roses. They can be planted any time of year in Orange County’s climate, but are most widely available in local nurseries in the spring.
Perhaps the best place to find them year-round is Pixie Treasures nursery in Yorba Linda, which specializes in miniature roses. Owned and operated by Dorothy Cralle and her daughter, Laurie Chaffin, Pixie Treasures carries about 175 varieties, with about 30,000 plants in stock at any given time. There are more than 400 varieties of miniature roses on the market worldwide, according to Cralle. “We select the best that the different growers have to offer. If we find a particular plant doesn’t do well in our climate we won’t carry it,” she says.
Pixie Treasures has introduced three new miniatures hybridized by Chaffin. “Honey Bear” has pastel peach to apricot blooms, a compact growth habit and a honey fragrance on a plant that grows to a height of 10 inches. “Fullerton Centennial,” a larger plant at 14 to 16 inches tall, was introduced in 1987 as part of the centennial celebration of the city of Fullerton. Its bright orange-red blooms can be seen in two display beds at the Fullerton Arboretum.
Chaffin’s introduction for 1989 is named “Tickle Me Pink” and never seems to stop blooming. The individual petals are etched with delicate markings that make each flower different. Chaffin plans to have two, possibly three, new introductions for 1990.
The miniatures come in three sizes--tall, 18 to 24 inches; medium, 12 to 18 inches, and low, under 12 inches.
The real plus of the plants Chaffin hybridizes is their perfect suitability to the growing conditions of Orange County. It takes about five years from the time a rose is hybridized until it is ready to be introduced. A hybridizer must be brutal in the selection of the seedlings to keep--any that aren’t outstanding get tossed in the trash. After the selection process and a year of testing in the nursery, the plants are sent to other test gardens in different parts of the country to determine whether they are strong enough for national distribution.
If a plant passes the trials of these test gardens, it may still be two years or more before it can be introduced to the public. Because all plants of a hybrid must come from cuttings of the one original “parent” plant, it may take another two or more years, depending on how readily it roots, to build up the quantity of plants need for introduction and to ensure that it will perform well.
Miniature roses are often used as a landscape plant. Cralle says they make excellent “mini” formal beds and perennial borders, alone or mixed with other perennials. Once established, they are seldom out of bloom here. They also can be planted at the front of beds of larger roses because they require the same care.
All of the miniature roses can be grown in containers. “Miniatures make such wonderful container plants that only about half of what we sell go into beds in the ground,” says Cralle. “It is very popular right now to plant several in a large container, with maybe a tree rose in the center.”
Miniature roses are so versatile and easy to grow that they can be used any place in your garden where you want consistent year-round color (as long as they get at least a half-day of sun).
“We have often seen literature that says the miniature roses can be grown in the house,” Cralle says. “We don’t recommend it. It is just too difficult to give them the bright light they need. They look so much better when grown on the patio and brought into the house for special occasions.”
