I started enjoying little miniature roses when my housband Gary bought me one in a small pot at the grocery store. I pampered it, gave it food and sunshine but it was not long when it began to grow long straggly stems and no flowers, yellow leaves began and before long the leaves were dropping. I hate to just toss flowers away so I took this little pink rose bush and planted it in my garden under my Wisteria tree. Needless to say he laughed and said I was wasting my time, you can not grow these little petites roses in the garden in Utah.
   How wrong he was, my little white rose bush not only survived but grew into a beautiful specimen and is now 8 years old. It awards me with the tiniest perfect white roses all summer.

How do you grow these Petite Roses?
   I use a fertilizer high in potassium to help produce the best blooms my little rose can produce. 5-5-10 is a very good choice mixed at 1/4 strength once a week just like I do my large hybrid teas.
   Water them with at least l” to 2” of water a week and do not let them dry out. Mulching helps during the cold winter and also will help in the heat of summer.
   Give them a 1' to 2' hair cut in late winter or early spring. I like to prune mine in the spring when I can just start seeing new growth. They respond very well to pruning.
   You will soon learn that there is a big difference in pruning these little petites compared to the large roses. Keep the spent flowers cut off to induce more flowers.

   These petite roses also grow well in planters. Use a rich potting mix and plant the minis in at least an 8' pot with good drainage. Place them in a an area where they will receive lots of sunshine. If you live in an area that has hard freezing winters bring your pots indoors in a very bright area with sunshine, and humidity.

   The same insects that plague the larger rose bushes also plague the little petites. I use a 2-in1 Systemic Rose and Flower granules. I mixed these granules in the soil around the rose bush about a week before the sucking insects usually appear. Repeat every 6 weeks. This helps prevent the infestation of scale, aphids, beetles, rose midge, thrips and spider mites.

Pests damaging mini roses

   Be they mini roses, multifloras, climbers or hybrids, bugs also love roses as much as you do. What kind of bugs? The sucking, chewing, boring and knawing kind.

Aphids
   These nasty little bugs like to suck the juice right out of your beautiful roses. These insects can be green, brown or even black. They produce a sweet sticky substance called honeydew. If you have a large infection the excreted honeydew can produce black sooty mold. And it also attracts ants which will eat the good bugs.

Beetles
   These insects start out in your lawn as larvae. They hatch and start to chew on your roses. There are Japanese beetles, June beetles and rose chafters. No matter where you live in the U.S. you have at least one of these pests in your area, and probably chewing down on your pretty roses.

Rose Midge
Are your roses looking really good but the flowers do not open, or open partway or shrivel and turn black? You are probably hosting the nearly invisible midge. Midges attack blooms and since they are almost invisible the damage is done before you know they are on your roses.

Scale
   Watch for little brown bumps on the steams and leaves. These insects look just bumps and you can always scrape a few off so you can get a good look at them. Scale is one of the hardest insects to rid from your garden.

Spider Mites
   Another invisible insect is this tiny spider. If you see your leaves turning yellow and have a slivery sheen then drop off, it is very likely your rose bush is infested with spider mites. If you have a bad infestation you will be able to see webs. These insects suck the moisture out of the plants. These mites are most common in hot dry weather.

Thrips
   Still another almost invisible sucking bug, that loves to feed on your beautiful rose petals. Buds fail to open, or are deformed. Watch your flowers they will tell you a lot about the things that are camping out on your roses.