Minis Are Available in Many Varieties

Mini roses look like they’ve been zapped by a futuristic scientist who shrunk a perfectly shaped hybrid tea or floribunda bush into tiny proportions. But they are a natural occurrence in the rose kingdom.

They first appeared in 1815 when a variety of R. chinensis minima was grown in Europe.

Called R. roulettii, these tiny roses became a fad, but their novelty wore thin over time.

Almost a century later, they were rediscovered by a rose expert who noticed miniature roses growing in a window box in a Swiss village.

Since then, these tiny roses have become so popular that hybridizers have created thousands of new varieties.

Top miniatures for O.C. gardens:

* ‘Behold’ (yellow)

* ‘Heartbreaker’ (pink blend)

* ‘Jean Kenneally’ (apricot pink)

* ‘Just for You’ (deep pink with light reverse)

* ‘Little Artist’ (crimson red painted petals with white eye)

* ‘Renny’ (clear pink)

* ‘Ring of Fire’ (orange blend)

* ‘Santa Claus’ (deep red)

* ‘Starla’ (white)

* ‘Sequoia Gold’ (yellow)

* ‘Snow Bride’ (white)

* ‘Sugar Plum’ (mauve)

Climbing miniature roses:

* ‘Candy Cane’ (striped pink and white)

* ‘Hurdy Gurdy’ (striped red and white)

* ‘Jeanne Lajoie’ (pink)