Has anyone had experience with Kayla and Cricket? What is the bloom season(s)? Also, have you had experience with John's Miniature Roses?

Thanks so much!

Dale

John's Miniature Roses is a very good vendor.

Do you regularly grow minis? Are they easy (or hard) to maintain i.e disease? pruning? feeding?

dale

Depends on the mini. Some are more disease resistant than others. I spray a fungicide regularly. If you do a search for "disease resistant" from the main Miniature Roses page, you'll find some threads about resistant minis.

Pruning is easy, hedge clippers work pretty well. I fertilize my minis the same way I fertilize my large roses, primarily Espoma Holly-tone (Rose-tone, Plant-tone or Flower-tone work just as well), with some added water-soluble fertilizer (whatever I have on hand).

Thanks!

When do you generally prune the minis? How far back do you generally prune them? What about Polyanthas. Do you know if they are treated the same way?

Dale

Depends on the mini, the larger ones get cut back by half, then smaller ones I just remove anything that might be dead, or just some shaping.

Polys, I have two, White Pet and Baby Faurax (I have Excellenz von Schubert too, but that is an entirely other kind of beastie). I usually cut White Pet back by half. I give Baby a haircut and trim out anything dead. Baby Faurax I usually have to trim back during the season.

I planted all the minis directly into my gardens, and they've been happily growing and blooming all summer, putting forth flush after flush of beautiful blooms! I love the fact that Heirloom and John's roses are all own-root, and I adore the selection of hardy roses! I can finally grow lovely roses that will come back year after year!

Our winters are pretty frigid, and most grafted roses die or barely survive... but own-root means so much to someone wanting to grow roses in northern climes!

I love my minis, and I'm afraid it's turning into another plant addiction, of which I already have several!

When did you plant your minis? I'd love to plant them this year but my current garden is in full swing and i'd hate to disrupt it. Have you planted in the spring?

Thanks and Take Care!

Dale

Personally, I would most likely wait and order for spring planting.

The pics of the minis are so pretty. How do you work with them? Do you plant several together in order to get a 'look' or is their appearance strong enough to hold their own?

Thanks!

If I want a larger, bushier look, I use regular shrub roses with smaller blooms. I don't think I'd plant minis together as a group... there are many that will actually get quite large or tall... I have a no-name red mini that looks like a medium sized shrub, only it's covered with little red roses! I'd say it's about 2 1/2 to 3 feet tall, and almost as wide. I paid a whole dollar and fifty cents for it at Lowe's three years ago!

Minis are useful in many garden situations... ground cover, edging, planted among shorter perennials... hanging baskets, large patio pots... I just love them!

Is there a rule of thumb as to how wide they get? Do they generally get as wide as they do tall?

Thanks!

Dale

Here's the link to Heirloom Roses, below... check out their miniature rose selections... each rose has a description, complete with about how big they get, whether they have scent, etc... John's Miniature Roses is the sister company, and they have lovely roses with good descriptions, too, if I'm not mistaken. Just copy and paste the link into your browser, and check it out!

http://www.johnsminiatureroses.com/