Patriot----- Try posting on the Rose forum

Sorry, I just assumed that people in the PROFESSIONAL gardener forum would actually have the plants I'm looking for.

Whoa! Do I detect a bit of sarcasm here?

Patriot, the term "professional" covers a lot of territory - designers, contractors, turf specialists, container gardeners, indoor plant specialists, those who focus on maintenance and pruning, breeders and propagators as well as nursery workers and owners. Not everyone who is a professional gardener has acres of plants sitting around handy.

I'm not sure why your focus is on nonpatented roses - they are neither better or worse than patented varieties. Only been around long enough so that their patent has expired. And since there are as many different rose cultivars as there are stars in the heaven (or darn close to), those of us who do sell roses may only have or want access to a somewhat limited number. And I'd have to say that in my area, mini roses are not hot sellers and we just don't bother offering them, except as flowering gift items (and those seldom come tagged as to cultivar).

Rose afficionados, like those folks who hang on the Rose forum, seem to spend their lives searching for obscure or very specific roses or discussing them and their infinite problems. The chances of them offering you some good sources are far greater than those of us here whose interests are much wider or focused in other directions.

My focus is on nonpatented roses because I too wish to become a professional gardener. I am starting my own nursery and to get things going I want to propagate roses.

Everyone has to start somewhere.

Good Luck !!!!!!

Patriot -
If a rose is listed as "patented" but the patent is >17 years ago, it's a patented rose whose patent has expired. It's OK to make cuttings from it.

Mentioning the patent in those cases is just a marketing ploy, because the perception is that patented roses are better.

Thank you.

I was confused because I had been told that rose patents only last 17 - 20 years, yet when I went to order some roses that are 30+ years old I saw patent numbers still attached to them. I didn't want to waste hundreds of dollars buying a bunch of plants that are illegal for me to propagate.

In this particular case at least, their marketing ploy almost lost them a plump sale.