Anyone else love minis? They are some of my favorite roses and are approximately
half of our rose garden. Do you have any favorite mini rose hybridizers? Mine is Dee Bennett. Love her roses!
half of our rose garden. Do you have any favorite mini rose hybridizers? Mine is Dee Bennett. Love her roses!
I am on the hunt for Benardella minis. They were really available and popular in the late ‘90s. I do not want them to go extinct! Do you have any ?
In my early years growing roses, my garden was primarily miniatures - I found them easier to grow than others and easier to take care of and exhibit since I was working a lot. It is disappointing they are so hard to find. Ralph Moore is one of my favorite mini breeders. Frank Benardella is another. Today I have about 75 mini/minifloras in my garden
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Wow! You certainly do have a large collection of miniature and MF roses. Moore and Benardella older varieties are my favorite now also because I do not want the varieties to go extinct. I always liked them because they rebloom quickly and were easier to winter protect (in Minnesota) than larger roses.
Does anyone out there have lots of Benardella mini roses?
I’m always on the hunt for them. I think that I’ve got around 10 so far. I ordered Flawless which should be delivered to me shortly. Black Jade is my sentimental favorite.
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We have about 3 dozen miniatures and minifloras. I am always looking for true miniatures like Figurine, Odessa, Jean Kenneally. So disappointing that it is very difficult to find that size miniature with exhibition form. Are there any breeders out there producing any?
Sources for Minature and Miniflora Roses
K & M Roses ( own root or fortuniana grafted): 601-648-2908 www.kandmroses.com, info@kandmroses.com
High Country Roses: 800-552-2082, www.highcountryroses.com
Roses Unlimited: 864-682-7673, www.rosesunlimitedsc.com
Wisconsin Roses: (budded on multiflora), 262-358-1298 www.wiroses.com, steve@wiroses.com
Chamblee’s Rose Nursery: 903-882-5153, www.chambleeroses.com, info@chambleeroses.com
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No. My minis are from Tiny Petals, John’s miniature roses or the grocery store.
Not many. Only K & M roses have minis that have exhibition form. Most hybridizers are focusing on disease resistance not exhibition form. Kordes and Meilland (both european hybridizers of big roses that have exhibition form AND disease resistance but neither hybridizes many minis. Meilland has their “Sunblaze” series of minis but that is all.
Just remembered, Burlington Nursery has many older minis especially those of Ralph Moore and some from Tiny Petals (Dee Bennett). Sadly they are both gone now.
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The sad truth is that true miniatures are harder and harder to find. Minifloras are lovely, but if you want the petite bloom like Figurine or Jean Keaneally (sic) they are difficult to locate. David Bang has lovely roses, but the blooms are larger than I would like and in our yard they struggle with the AZ heat.
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I did not start out being a big fan of minis, but I have become very fond of them over time. In my experience, many have really good substance and last a very long time on the bush or in a vase. I am partial to David Clemons and Dave Bang miniatures. They do well for me in Birmingham, Alabama.
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Add Burlington Rose Nursery, Visalia, Tulare County, California
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Thank you Carol and welcome to the Rose Forum!
Roses Unlimited in Laurens, SC has a dozen or so minis including Jean Keneally and Odessa
He carries most of the Michael Williams hybridized roses. We often give him wood to keep some of the older (out-of -patent) roses going
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That is great to know - we cannot let these special mini’s go away!
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With mini’s becoming so hard to find it would be nice if societies would catalog or list what their members grow so some sort of sharing of cuttings from non-patented varieties could be done. I personally have hunted David Clemmons’ ALYSHEBA, Dave Bang’s POWERKEG and THE LIGHTHOUSE for a couple of years without success. I do have THE LIGHTHOUSE being custom grown by FREEDOM GARDEN’S for a 2025 delivery. Any thoughts on this? All the forums are interesting and make good reading. Thanks to the ARS for starting this format.
I am not familiar with Freedom Gardens. Is this a new vendor?
Freedom Gardens is the custom nursery run by the guy who puts out the combined rose list, Peter Schneider. Phone number is 330-296-2618. He has over a thousand varieties and will custom root you a rose if you cannot find it anywhere else. He does not have everything but does have a lot of hard to find roses. He is a little pricey since almost everything is custom. He does have some varieties in stock. For example the mini THE LIGHTHOUSE is being rooted now for 2025 delivery for me.
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Thank you so much! I will be in touch.
For the uninitiated, what is the difference between a mini and a miniflora?