A fully developed micro like Tiny Flame, Si, Hi or other truly small one can have many roots around the bottom of a two gallon can in my climate. They’ll surely grow in significantly smaller containers, like bonsai trees will, but have to be policed to make sure they don’t fry in hot sun or fully dry out and die. Spider mites can be real issues unless the plants are bathed fairly frequently. Promoting them for model railroad use is something a former coworker of mine thought of a few years ago. Her husband was quite involved with them. I’ve used them to plant bird houses at the beach and used them in window boxes for little girls play houses. Growing them as bonsai specimen has been done frequently. Preventing them from frying in the sun due to too small containers and preventing spider mites are the worst issues. Kim
I have a smaller red mini, not a true micro, that I have been using to try to bonsai it. It blooms a ton and has very short intermodal spacing. It is from a cross of (‘Marmalade Skies’ X ‘Baby Love’) X ‘Space Odyssey’.
This seedling has been under evaluation by a rose grower, but they are passing on it. It gets no PM, and has fair DM and BS resistance in our climate. I will be asking for some of the plants. If anyone has an interest in bonsai, I would be happy to mail a plant for shipping costs.
Jim Sproul
Sounds like something worth breeding with, Jim. Have you tried it? Kim
Hi Kim,
You’re right. It would be good to try breeding with it. I’ve thought about trying it, but there are too many other competing directions that I am going in. The spring flush typically covers the entire plant.
I was in Wasco yesterday and wish now that I had taken a picture of it.
Jim Sproul
Jim,
I’d be interested in one of those (‘Marmalade Skies’ X ‘Baby Love’) X ‘Space Odyssey’ if they aren’t all spoken for yet.
Rob
Hi Rob,
Please drop me an email with your address. These will be bareroot and probably available in January.
rosesbydesign at earthlink dot net.
Jim Sproul
Has anyone tried to grow these micro-miniatures in a fairy garden. I think they could be real popular in these miniature gardens.
I like that idea Adam. I also like the idea of micros used in rock gardens and in koi pond settings.
Adam, I’ve also thought of that! I can’t start a miniature rose garden at the moment but would like to someday with micro-minis in a large planter at a height my children can appreciate. It would be really cute.
That’s how I had to grow them for many years, simply to keep the rabbits from mowing them down nightly. It sure made appreciating them easier, though the “planters” were of stacked slump stone, about mid thigh height and were definitely not “landscaped”, but simply planted to maximize room and number of plants. Even without vermin issues, either pots on a bench or a raised planter would still be my preferred method of growing them. Who wants to (or still CAN) lay on their stomach on the ground to enjoy them? hehehe Kim
They’re perfect for hanging baskets on shepherd’s hooks. Keeps them away from the critters and at a height I can work on them, photograph them and enjoy them easily! I don’t recommend those fuzzy coir baskets though. The birds seem to feel they’re the perfect nesting material and destroy them regularly. Found poor Cindy with her bare roots showing because they’d peeled off so much that the soil had washed away. They’re all in nice new plastic ones that just look like baskets now.
the coir baskets dry out too quickly too.
Here’s another idea for the mini’s; I use small tomato cages, turn them upside down and then using pliers, curl the legs down like a scroll and set a pot in the top. I then use tent stakes to keep them from blowing over. It works great for getting plants up off the ground and adding height to the landscape.
Great Idea Joan!! I have so many tomato cages, and nowadays only plant 4-5 tomatoes.
Joan,
Sounds great for using amongst medium to taller perennials…like that idea!
Yes, using them for plant supports makes great sense, too. And, a whale of a lot more cost effective and available. I like the pot stand idea, too. I’ll have to work on it a bit to make it more “wind” proof. We usually have that to contend with but recently it’s been rather “severe”! Kim
Ooo, great idea, Joan, thanks! I’m always looking for ways to get things up off the ground and getting some height in the garden.
Joan, I definitely plan to try your tomato cage idea next year.
Looking over this thread I was reminded of the miniature gardens at Madurodam in The Hague, Netherlands. Has anyone ever been there? We went the last time we were over there in 2008. It’s an open-air park full of miniature models of famous Dutch landmarks. The detail is just incredible. All the plants around the buildings are live plants. I can’t remember seeing any micro-mini roses there, but they would be right at home.