Miniature Rose Is No Houseplant
Miniature roses scarcely existed a century ago. Now shoppers can find them for sale in grocery stores, where they’re touted as indoor plants.
But watch out: Although instruction tags advise buyers to grow them in sunny locations, even indoors in sunny windows, rose experts have a different opinion.
“Rose plants belong outdoors, and that includes miniatures,” says Lillian Biesiadecki, whose Newport Beach garden features 400 full-size rosebushes and 250 miniatures, including ‘Carrot Top’ and ‘Hot Tamale.’
A past president of the Orange County Rose Society and currently a judge and consulting rosarian with the American Rose Society, Biesiadecki knows her roses. And she encourages everyone to grow America’s national flower . . . outdoors.
“Miniature roses can always be plugged into a landscape or grown in containers on patios or decks,” she says. “But the only way they can [be used] indoors is if a plant is in full bloom and you want to enjoy the blossoms in the house for a week or so while they last.”
Laurie Chaffin, co-owner of Pixie Treasures Miniature Rose Nursery in Yorba Linda and a hybridizer of new varieties, agrees.
“Never, never try to grow miniature roses indoors unless you regard them as a disposable plant,” she says. “People think they’re supposed to grow indoors. If they won’t believe me, I tell them to believe their plants.”
Chaffin says small rose plants show their stress indoors by growing tall and leggy to capture sunlight. Unless under grow lights, leaves turn yellow and fall off, and the plant dies.
“They need more sunlight than a window situation can provide,” she says. “In a greenhouse window, their roots get overheated, and the plants die.”
Outdoors, they’re versatile.
“People should think of them as landscape plants and not just as roses,” Chaffin says. ‘They’re excellent in front of a border or any sunny place where you need a 1- or 2-foot blooming shrub.”
Don’t be misled by the nomenclature of miniature rose.
Some varieties can grow as big as 4 feet; others are a petite 12 inches. Varieties grow as climbing roses.
A miniature rose is one whose flower and foliage is proportionately small.
The most diminutive are called microminiatures because these tiny plants, such as ‘Tom Thumb’ and ‘Baby Ophelia,’ reach 6 to 8 inches, with corresponding tiny blooms and foliage.
They come in a dazzling array of colors, including shades of pink, red and yellow.
Buyers can also find them in pure white and novelty colors such as oranges, stripes, two-tones and “hand-painted” roses with colors that bleed and intensify as the blossoms age.
Flower forms range from simple singles to classic, high-centered exhibition shapes--and a vast array in between. Many lack fragrance, but some, especially lavender hues, are sweetly scented.
All varieties have the same growing needs. All roses, including minis, need abundant sunshine, water and fertilizer.
Biesiadecki likes to minimize care by growing mini roses in 7-gallon containers, which permit more root development so she can save time on watering and feeding.
Chaffin counsels her clients to repot plants from 4-inch containers to 14- or 16-inch containers.
“The bigger the pot, the more lax you can get on care,” she says.
In days of intense heat or wind, it might be necessary to water containers daily. Cooler temperatures and cloudy skies reduce frequency to several times a week.
Mini roses need food, but not as much as their larger relatives.
Chaffin recommends a foliar fertilizer, diluted to one-half the package directions. She also likes to use fish emulsion.
She cautions against using fertilizers that contain systemic insecticides, which will kill miniature rose plants. Instead, to combat unwanted insects, she likes to hose off the foliage, especially under leaves, where most pests hide.
Pruning is simple. Many people cut mini roses back by two-thirds in January or February. While some gardeners use hedge shears, Biesiadecki prefers to trim and shape each bush with small pruners.
“If you cut to the ground, in time you end up with very bushy centers, and you lose some very good canes,” she says.
Learn more about miniature and other roses at the Orange County Rose Society’s show 1-6 p.m. today and 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday, Huntington Beach Mall, 7777 Edinger Ave. (310) 596-0017.
