Miniature rose variety--need suggestions

I have been maintaining a Nick Lenz tray with three miniature roses in it for several years. Its had its ups and down but this years spring did it in and I need to replant. Does anyone have a variety suggestion for miniature roses?

No...

But that's creepy!

Nice!

Sorce

Not miniature, but I like the Pink Drift Roses. They're blooms are bigger, but on small side. I have some red roses, not sure what they are, but might be Red Ribbon.

Rosa multiflora

crust said:

Does anyone have a variety suggestion for miniature roses?

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The Child's Play Miniature Rose seems to be very sturdy even in hot weather. We have had several and those hold up the best. Must admit though never been able to keep any Rose in a pot for more then 3 -4 years here so now they all stay in the ground. J&P has a good selection and healthy plants - http://www.jacksonandperkins.com/miniatures/c/JP-Miniatures/

Grimmy

GrimLore said:

The Child's Play Miniature Rose

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Seems appropriate to go with your (creepy) little doll.
CW

CWTurner said:

Seems appropriate to go with your (creepy) little doll.
CW

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I think it is suitable and Nick would grin as well. That planting is one of his creations and shown in this article http://www.artofbonsai.org/galleries/lenz.php

Grimmy

I really like miniature roses, and have a few myself. My favorite is "Ralph Moore" - it is a deep clear red, with hybrid tea shape and moderate fragrance. But I think its flower is too large for your composition. Varieties come in and out of fashion that it is unlikely that you will be able to exactly replace the same cultivar. Since you are trying to restore a "work of art", it might be worth shopping the mail order catalogs and get a worthy replacement. It will be more expensive, but you have a better chance of getting the "right one". Miniatures can have flowers as small as less than 1 inch, to big blooms as large as 3 inches. The trend in hybridizing is often for bigger flowers.

Things to keep in mind, what size are the flowers of the original? If they are 1 inch or less, or are they closer to 2 inches? Flower size will be the most important thing to match. Flower color too. While you are selecting a replacement do yourself a favor and look closely at disease resistance, some are more susceptible to leaf spot and other fungal maladies than others. Also look at winter hardiness. There are hundreds available from various vendors. I personally refuse to buy a miniature rose that is not fragrant, for me, if it doesn't smell like a rose, it shouldn't be called a rose. But that is my taste.

I have bought from Heirloom Roses, they sell all their roses on their own roots, and do virus indexing, so they guarantee that the rose will be virus free. They are more expensive - $20 each, but you can pick out "just the right one".

http://www.heirloomroses.com/roses/miniature-roses.html?p=4

"Jilly's Jewel" - a nice mini pink. Flower is less than 1 inch across. It is susceptible to blackspot fungus. But it has hung on for 3 years for me.

'Ralph Moore' - another mini = flower is just under 2 inches. A nice fragrant red. Its leaves are somewhat susceptible to fungus too. Always a battle.

Nice roses! This is helpful Leo--fragrance is important to me too. I am not set on any true recreation. My focus is finding a strong healthy miniature rose variety to plant and cultivate in the tray--the flowers don't have to be really small. The info on the net is overflowing and I can't discern what is good due to too much info or what is being cowboyed. I noticed there are micro minis but I assume they are weaker things. I will no doubt buy from a rose place like JP or heirloom. I was attracted to Sorceress--but it is scentless. I learned the more fragrant the rose the less resistant to disease it is. Ralph Moore looks to be a good choice.

A picture from yesterday, flower expanded larger than I'd ever seen before. about 2 inches. Flower is closer to camera than the pot, so perspective is misleading. My chronic problem with black spot on leaves is obvious, I have almost no leaves left. Right after the picture I blasted this with Ortho Rose Dust. An old fashion remedy. A plastic squeeze bottle of dust. It is a fungicide, and insecticide. I already used Cleary's 3336 about 4 weeks earlier, but its not enough to keep black spot under control. Good news is roses usually survive it, just look bare, and don't rebloom quickly when they have few leaves. Starting to get a knot of a trunk, but it is still small. under a inch, and not tree like yet. This one is about 4 years old.

crust said:

The info on the net is overflowing and I can't discern what is good due to too much info or what is being cowboyed. I noticed there are micro minis but I assume they are weaker things.

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I made several calls to major growers this week and it was like pulling teeth but I managed to have five all agree on one point. That was - any Rose can be grown potted BUT must be repotted every two years to insure survival. I will get four different types in the Spring and test drive it I somehow missed one painted red miniature out back and that one will receive a repot along with new types as they arrive.

Grimmy

Rosa 'Warm & Fuzzy' - new miniature rose I picked up earlier this summer. So far, so good, seems more resistant to black spot than previous varieties. Currently still in gallon nursery can. I'm going to leave it in a big pot until it gets more of a trunk. Lightly fragrant, or I would not have picked it up. Ancestry is something different, not all hybrid tea, the "fuzzy" glands on the calyx and stens suggest maybe one of the moss ross or musk rose species in its background. That may be the source of the resistance to black spot fungus. Though I have not had it long enough to be certain it is truly resistant to black spot.







Jilly Jewel is putting on a show, looking nice. I cut it back hard and repotted end of July. It has bounced back nice.

Jan 1, 2020 update
Sorry, no new photos, but 'Jilly Jewel' did eventually die off, the problems with rose diseases sapped enough strength that it failed to thrive.

Good news, 'Ralph More' is hanging in there, now over 6 years in my haphazard cultivation. Now it is in a pot by Dan Laxdol. Still needs spraying with a rose specific fungicide every summer.

Even better news - 'Warm & Fuzzy' has been the most trouble free of my miniature roses. For 2019 it never got sprayed with a fungicide and its foliage remained clean. It definitely has better disease resistance than any of the roses I have tried over the years. Definitely worth tracking down. It also has pretty good cold tolerance, zone 5.