Little roses – miniature charm on the windowsill

The story of

Like many amazing things, mini roses came to Europe from the East. Back in 1810, small evergreen roses were brought from China, newspapers wrote about them. The first quarter of the 20th century was marked by a fashion for them, which gradually faded away. Only after almost a hundred years, interest was renewed thanks to the discovery of Dr. Roulette. He discovered a flowering bush and started breeding unprecedentedly small roses. Before the war, European flower growers knew no more than 1940 varieties, but since XNUMX, Dutch and Spanish breeders began to cross them with undersized representatives of different types of roses.

Since then, miniature roses have not only not lost popularity, but have increased their diversity due to interspecific hybridization. Today you can find a rose for every taste among the five thousand existing varieties. Lush bushes with small bright leaves grow from 10 to 30, sometimes up to 40 cm tall, abundant flowers reach 3 cm in diameter. They are distinguished by lush and long flowering – some varieties bloom without interruption from May to October, others do it in three waves almost every two months each. In addition to the classic spray roses, roses come in a variety of forms: ground cover, trellis, climbing, even standard. In terms of the variety of coloring of flowers, they are not inferior to their large counterparts.

Americans consider miniature roses indoor flowers, but in our country they can be found on alpine hills, in borders, on discounts, they are often grown in various kinds of pots and vases, decorating the yard, balcony and apartment, and always invariably cause admiration and joy with their appearance.

Video “Particulars of the group”

From the video you will learn about the features of these colors.

Advantages

In addition to unconditional decorativeness, miniature roses have many advantages. They are not capricious and very tenacious, even a rose that has frozen in winter will surely give new shoots, rarely become victims of diseases, endure cold snap and heat, they can only make a short pause in violent flowering. They tolerate winter well in shelter, in the southern regions they may not shed their leaves at all, insulated with earth, after a dormant period they simply resume their growth. They are very easy to propagate from cuttings.

Flowering on the street lasts from late May to October, and in the apartment, if provided with daylight, it can begin in March and end in November. Some lovers do not arrange a dormant period for their roses, but increase the daylight hours so that they bloom constantly.

Own-rooted plants grown from cuttings of roses, even grafted onto wild rose, do not give root shoots, which greatly facilitates their care, you can not be afraid that the varietal plant will turn into a wild rose. There are prickly varieties, and there are completely without thorns. Flowers are simple and double in a wide variety of colors: from traditional pink, red, white, different shades, to green, purple and blue. The shoots are always densely covered with bright, most often dark green shiny leaves. Varieties of the classical bush form form beautiful dense bushes with straight shoots, which, although they are very thin, proudly hold both single flowers and small inflorescences, without bending or bending under their weight.

Small size, very beautiful shape and varied colors of flowers allow the use of roses in landscape design with amazing benefits for the site.

Cultivation

For flower growers who have already cultivated roses in their area, miniature roses will not seem like complex or capricious flowers. It is best to plant them in a flower bed in the spring, then the root system will have time to get used to and develop in a new place during the season so that winter will not become a problem. The place must be selected, like all roses, sunny, but protected from drafts and the north wind, it is enough if the sun dries the night moisture on the leaves in the morning, and there may be a light shade in the afternoon.

Dwarf rosettes grow well on light, breathable, slightly acidified soils without stagnant water. They prefer hills to any lowlands. Before planting plants, it is advisable to fertilize the soil with compost, rotted manure, add bone meal and wood ash to it, if you need to deoxidize, then lime is added. Before planting, you need to adjust the structure of the earth – too light requires the addition of clay and peat, and too heavy requires sand, peat and fertilizers.

Bushes are planted at a distance of 20 – 25 cm from each other. If the seedlings are purchased in a container, then they must be placed in a hole with the same clod of earth, this will speed up survival in a new place.

When planting a bush, the root neck is deepened by 3–5 cm, then the earth is tamped around the bush and watered with warm settled water. The first two weeks, the rosette is gradually accustomed to the sun – at first it is completely closed during the day, and opened only in the morning and evening, then the time of “walks” is extended until the covers are completely removed.

It is advisable not to water too much so that excess moisture does not collect near the roots, but you need to use settled warm water. It is recommended to loosen the earth around the bush after watering so that it does not take on a crust.

All summer the flower beds are weeded, the blooming flowers are cut off, the damaged leaves and shoots are removed, they make sure that the bush does not become too thick, otherwise it will begin to lose leaves, and may even get sick if sunlight does not fall into its depth.

Constant flowering requires a lot of strength, so four top dressings are usually recommended. So, in early spring, after waking up, ammonium nitrate is added, later, when the shoots are actively growing, they are helped with carbamide, with the appearance of buds, the plants are fed with a solution of complete mineral fertilizer, in August nitrogen can no longer be added, they are limited to potassium-phosphorus compounds. All fertilizers are applied after watering.

Of the parasites, one should be wary of aphids, a rose sawfly, with a lack of moisture – a spider mite. Therefore, when growing at home, pots are often placed on a pallet with wet pebbles or plants are sprayed with boiled water. Roses can become infected with powdery mildew or leaf spot. For prevention, plants are treated with Bordeaux liquid, ash solution or herbal infusion. Affected parts are cut out and destroyed.

If plants in pots were taken out into the street, then with the onset of cold weather they are brought into the room. Only those plants that have grown in open ground all season can winter on the street. Frosts down to -7 degrees will not bring trouble, but when they come, it’s time to prepare roses for winter. In autumn, they should not be cut off much, you can only remove the buds and peduncles, even the leaves, if they do not fall off themselves, you can not touch. The bush is spud high with earth, covered with dry leaves, covered with spruce branches. Then a frame is arranged over it, covered with lutrasil or spunbond, and on top with a polyethylene film. First, a hole is left for ventilation, then the shelter is closed tightly, pressing down the covering material along the perimeter with stones or boards. During thaws and in early spring, they open again for airing. Remove the shelter gradually, when it is already warm. Roses are examined and cut off in the spring before the buds awaken.

Miniature roses in pots for the winter can be brought into the basement or other room with an air temperature of +1 to +5 degrees. In the spring, they will also need to be cut and transplanted. At home, you can not arrange a long dormant period if you want to get flowers in early spring or even winter. But in order to start the growing season, the plants will need a longer daylight hours, so you will have to arrange lighting with a fluorescent lamp. Plants are transferred to a warm room, cut, transplanted, watered, and then fed.

Roses are propagated by cuttings, which can be cut from shoots 2–3 mm thick. Each cutting should have 3-4 buds, make an oblique cut under the bottom cut, and a straight cut 0,5 cm above the bud above the top. The lower leaves are removed, and half is left from the top. You can put the cuttings in water until roots form (even add a root growth stimulator), but they don’t change it, but simply add it as needed. And then cuttings with tiny and still weak roots are planted in the ground.

You can soak the lower third of the cuttings with a growth stimulator for several hours, and then immediately place them in the ground for rooting. To do this, take a deep container (pot or box), first pour a drainage layer, then soil, and on top 2 cm of clean sand.

The cuttings are placed with an edge on the border of sand and soil, pressed with fingers, watered, a cover made of film is arranged above them to retain moisture. The cuttings are watered, sometimes aired, the appearance of new sprouts, first red and tiny, will report the formation of roots, then they will turn into real twigs and acquire a normal green color. If new plants are planned to be planted outside, then they should be kept until spring in the cellar or on the balcony with a temperature of +1 to +5, so that they stop their growth.

Top Grades

Today there are a lot of varieties of small roses, some are best grown on the street, others at home, but they can all grow in open ground and in pots, they are all very decorative and can bring real pleasure to aesthetes with their appearance. To choose from this variety, you need to learn at least a little about the most common varieties.

Hummingbird

This variety was created by French breeders in 1958. A fairly dense spreading bush with glossy dark leaves looks good in flower beds in group plantings and in a separate pot. Its terry cup-shaped flowers with a pleasant aroma are collected in small inflorescences of 3-5 pieces, the diameter of the open flower is 4 cm, the color is bright, apricot-yellow. Flowering is long and abundant.

“Daniela”

A fairly new, but already well-known French variety, created in the 90s of the last century, is resistant to most diseases. A compact bush grows up to 15 – 20 cm tall, double rosette-shaped flowers with pointed petals have a delicate pink-white color from the beginning of flowering, and become almost white towards the end. Blooms luxuriantly and continuously, requires shelter for the winter. Feels good in a pot.

“Debut”

Created in 1989, it has already gained wide popularity due to the non-trivial color of double flowers and ease of cultivation. The bush is tall enough for miniature roses, grows up to 35 – 38 cm tall, resistant to diseases and frost-resistant, although our conditions still require shelter for the winter, but it needs to be saved more from dampness than from cold. The petals are creamy white at the base and deep red towards the edges, becoming darker as the flower opens. On a bush, many flowers open at the same time, and they all have a slightly different color. This variety looks great as a border or hedge.

“Pixie”

A variety of Dutch selection, a low compact bush (up to 20 cm) throughout the summer is covered with numerous double cup-shaped flowers of white or white-pink color. Flowers with pointed petals are arranged one by one or are collected in small inflorescences of 2-3 pieces. It grows beautifully in the apartment and on the street, it is distinguished by continuous flowering.

“Los Angeles”

A classic shrub with erect, stiff shoots, with shiny dark green ovoid leaves, although there are options with bronze or light green leaves, which in itself is very unusual and beautiful. Up to 80 bright orange double flowers up to 5 cm in diameter are formed on each shoot. It blooms very luxuriantly and for a long time.

“Clementine”

Sufficiently large bushes (up to 60 cm high) grow compactly, are resistant to powdery mildew and leaf spot. This is the amazing case when the rose is not afraid of the heat – in the climate of the temperate zone, the flowers do not fully open for a long time and remain in the form of half-blown noble large flowers, in hot weather, double flowers open in 4 to 5 cm in diameter. Flowering is repeated all summer, the color of lush flowers changes from pink to apricot-orange. Cut flowers last up to 9 days.

“Lavender”

Lavender color with lilac-purple hues, 5 cm in diameter flower of noble forms, cannot but attract attention. On each stem rises from one to three buds. The bush grows up to half a meter.

“Baby Baccarat”

The flower of this rose has an amazing nobility of form, which is emphasized by a velvety dark red, almost black color. One bud reigns on each peduncle surrounded by dark green leaves. Looks strict and luxurious.

“Meidi”

Frost-resistant, disease-resistant variety of German selection, was created in 1984. The bush grows up to 40 cm, is grown on the street and in the house, they decorate flower beds, windows, balconies, verandas. Flowers collected in small inflorescences exude a pleasant aroma, but their main charm is color. The inner side of the petals is blood red, and the outer side is silvery white.

“Green Ais Ming”

Spreading bushes with light green leaves are resistant to diseases and frost. Small terry cupped flowers are collected in inflorescences on long (up to 24 cm) strong peduncles, their color is white with delicate greens. Blooms long and profusely.

Video “Spring pruning”

From this video you will learn about the spring pruning of miniature roses.