Tending the tiny ones

It’s possible to keep your petite rosebush in good shape till spring, when you can plant it outdoors to grow in the garden for many years. Yes, these little tykes are surprisingly hardy and fully capable of overwintering outdoors after setting down healthy roots.

Coddling them consists of placing them in the coolest, brightest room in your home. Pick up a mister at your local dollar store if you don’t already own one and drench the bush in a fine mist once a day. Keep soil moist. Roses are thirsty plants and the extra humidity helps to hydrate their cells. Another suggestion is to place their pot on top of gravel in a dish with water in the base.

Aphids, whitefly or spidermites can sometimes be a problem over time but there’s a relatively easy solution to these pests. Hold your fingers over the soil, turn the plant upside down beneath a tap and riffle through the foliage as the water flows over the leaves. Repeat once a week.

In early May you can start to set the plant outside during warmer days for a few hours. After a week of this, select a sunny, well-drained area and dig a hole twice as big as the rootball on your rose. Add compost and bonemeal, remove the rose from its pot, place in the hole and adjust level to surrounding ground. Water well. Prune back by half and continue to fertilize bi-weekly through the summer. Another option is to plant these roses in containers. They make wonderful potted plants.

In November mound up a mixture of dirt and compost over the base of the bush to help protect it over the winter. Then prune back by half the following spring.

Miniature roses are perfect as tiny gift embellishments. Their petite petals dry quickly if you hang picked blooms upside down for a week, thus extending the giving period.

Surround a little bouquet of fresh or dried roses with a few scented herbs or other greenery, wrap a lacy paper doily around the stems, tie with a ribbon and you’ve made a present that’s bound to be appreciated at any time of the year.