I think a welcoming pathway of miniatures is a wonderful idea.
I plant mine at 12" centers and keep them within bounds by judicious pruning.
2' wide will be plenty of room for them to develop to their full potential and by either planting all of one kind or a medly of colors, I think you will have a wonderful addition to your plantscape design.
Meg

Your pathway lined with minis sounds lovely. I'm new to minis myself, just having bought my first, Sunrise Cupido. I'm thinking of planting more along one of my front beds. Meg's suggestion of a medley of colors sounds great.

I hope you post pics of your new mini rose beds.

Diana

Thanks so much for your response. In your experience, do you find that minis flower enough for a constant show of color, or are there lengths of time between flowering? I'm looking for a lot of color and wonder if I will have to plant annuals or perennials inbetween the roses to keep up a nice show.

As with the larger roses, how often they bloom depends on the cultivar you pick. Also some roses will need to be deadheaded to bloom constantly. Are you planning on spraying your roses? Picking the right rose for your situation is very important. All roses need some care, but there are those that need less care then others (see thread on Cinderella on this forum. It might work if you want a low growing edging).

Hi Maryl,

Thanks for your response. Yes, I plan to spray my roses. I'm curious why you ask. I have appx. 12 rose bushes on my property (moved here a year ago). Last summer I tried to care for them, but really didn't know what I was doing. From the little success that I had though, I became instantly addicted. I received books for Christmas about Roses and can't wait to begin to read them. I don't work outside the home, so I have ample time to spend "working outside" caring for my gardens. Lucky me!!! Any other suggestions or tips would be very welcome. Thanks again.

Deb

Deb, spraying is one thing that some people don't do for one reason or another. A perfectly good mini rose may not be suitable for those who do not spray. Rise n' Shine is a highly rated mini. Here it performs to perfection having the rounded bushy shape, and continual bloom that makes it wonderful for landscaping. But it needs to be sprayed religiously in my zone for powdery mildew and blackspot. Even though you don't work outside your home, spraying can become tedious after awhile. Since you are in a cooler climate then mine, your minis will probably not get as big, but you were right to worry about thorns attacking passersby. That's one of the reasons I suggested you look at the thornless Cinderella. Thornless roses are at a premium (just ask my non-rose loving DH). I can see an edging of healthy Cinderella backed by taller annuals/perennial that would be just lovely. The point is, it's up to you, and it's going to be so much fun looking at all those rose books over winter.

When planting roses or any other flowering plant in the landscape design, it is a good idea to consider bloom cycle, color, height and texture. You may want to include some annuals that sprawl at the feet of the minis to fill in and give a gentle effect and something a bit taller and more slender either in between or behind the minis to give them a 'showcase' and provide some additional color in between flushes of bloom.
You mentioned reading...there are several very good books available on how to design your landscape. "Designing With Roses" by Tony Lord is one of my favorites. He gives outlines for many different landscape considerations along with varieties to select for various landscape demands.
Hope this is helpful.
Meg