Garden

[gardenman]

This is my thirtyish-year-old mini rose that's now about five feet tall. Yeah, not so mini these days. It's a gorgeous plant with just amazing flowers though. The only negative to it is it won't let me root cuttings from it. I've tried twenty to thirty times and have failed in every attempt. I even tried air-layering it with no success. It's a great plant though. It never suffers dieback in the winter. It's insanely hardy, disease-resistant, pest-resistant. I do nothing to it and it just thrives. Way, way back, it was bought in a little pot in a local supermarket and was just popped into the yard. I expected it to die in the winter as mini roses are apt to do, but this guy is just invincible. Now if only I could get it to let me make successful cuttings from it. I'd like about fifty of them, but they just won't root.

[drizzellla]

Funny you mentioned miniature roses. I was checking out one of my miniature rose bushes at 7AM this morning. It is packed with flowers. But unlike your rose bush it is still miniature. And seems that it is going to stay that way.

I have a climbing rose bush. And a number of people have asked for cuttings. I take a branch and cover it with soil. In a few months I have the cutting for them. It doesn't look like you can go that route. The branches on your "miniature" go straight up.

That is such a nice looking rose bush. Can't blame you for wanting to growing cuttings.

[Kachina624]

Its a beautiful color.  Sounds like something went wrong in the greenhouse where it was born. 

[gardenman]

Yeah, it's a great plant., The rose flowers are still mini (about one to two inches across) but the bush is anything but mini after thirtyish years in the garden. The only annoyance is its absolute refusal to let me root cuttings from it. I've tried using different potting mixes, vermiculite, perlite, garden soil, water, sand, and nothing works. I've used two different rooting hormones with no luck. I've tried fresh greenwood cuttings, older hardwood cuttings, air-layering, and nothing works with this bush. I've tried taking cuttings in the spring, summer, and fall and all have failed. I'd have my yard full of these bushes if I could reproduce it, but it's very insistent that it won't root. I can generally root just about anything, but this bush just refuses to cooperate. It's probably why the world isn't full of them as I'm pretty sure it would be a top seller if it could be easily reproduced. It's a nearly perfect plant.

[Desertdi]

Maybe there's a buffalo (or something) buried underneath it.    

I often wonder why some of my shrubs get HUGE.....and others are puny........

[lulu1]

Beautiful miniature roses.  I have a few grocery store mini rose bushes that pop up every year. They get buds and sometimes flower, but never get any bigger. When they were initially indoors, some of the buds present when purchased bloomed, other shriveled up.  The plants grew a lot of leaves, but never any new buds.

[JustJazzmom]

Those mini roses at the supermarket are NOT miniature but are cuttings.

Looks like it did what it was supposed to do -- grow big.

[cactusgal]

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@@Desertdi wrote:

Maybe there's a buffalo (or something) buried underneath it.    

I often wonder why some of my shrubs get HUGE.....and others are puny........

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@Desertdi: It happens to me also. Could be the awful soil we have here in AZ.

[Mom2Dogs]

Pretty!!

[Desertdi]

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@cactusgal wrote:

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@@Desertdi wrote:

Maybe there's a buffalo (or something) buried underneath it.    

I often wonder why some of my shrubs get HUGE.....and others are puny........

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@Desertdi: It happens to me also. Could be the awful soil we have here in AZ.

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@cactusgal     Yeah......I think I live on a pile of rocks....(!!)