By: Richard J Anthony

This is a question that I frequently have been asked and my answer is always the same. I grow as well as exhibit all classes of roses from Hybrid Teas to and including Polyanthas and I do appreciate them all. But my real love and sincere appreciation is directed toward the Miniflora more so than any other rose.

There are several reasons for this although the one reason that stands out more than others is that most of today’s Minifloras have classic hybrid Tea form. While the bush may range in height from 30 inches to more than five feet in height, the blooms tend to be 2 ½ to 3 inches across when at perfect exhibition form. Most will last on your dining room table or in a cooler before a rose show similar to what Hybrid Teas do. A few like Class of 73, Shawn Sease and Whirlaway will hold for a week or longer.

Manuel Cuevas

What is there to not like about a smaller version of a large rose? They are easy to grow in containers, require less space than larger roses and have all of the attributes of their bigger relatives including fragrance. If you have not experienced the delightful fragrance of Miss Mable, Sunglow or Tom Mayhew you will be in for a treat once you do. Put a small bouquet of Miss Mabel in your living room and you will soon experience the pleasant aroma the rose emits. One day I fully intend to enter a bloom of Tom Mayhew in the most Fragrant Rose Class with the expectation of winning as the rose has a unique OGR fragrance that will captivate anyone who sniffs it. Obviously, not all Minifloras have fragrance as it is a recessive characteristic, but those that do tend to have a very strong pleasant one.

Miss Mabel

Whatever colors you find in larger roses can also be found in Minifloras. Every imaginable combination of color exists except blue. When Judging roses, color is not supposed to influence the decision, but it often does if only subtlety. There is something about a uniquely colored new Miniflora that causes it to attract attention.

Coat of Many Colors

Everyone wants to see it and that can work to your advantage at a rose show when judges are viewing your roses and they have no basis for comparison as they have not seen the rose before. More often than not exhibitors will benefit when judges do not know your rose assuming you have a very good one.

Grand Old Opry

COMING SOON . .

The upcoming ARS National Miniature Rose Show that will be held on October 5, 2019 at the Franklin Cool Springs Marriott. Several exhibitors who also hybridize miniflora roses just might exhibit a newly registered rose. If you like miniflora roses as I and many others do, make plans now to be in Franklin Tennessee on October 5. If you have never been to an ARS National Conference you are in for a treat as it will be a fun filled weekend.

Register and bring your roses to join the fun in the heart of the Country Music capital of the world.

All the conference information can be found HERE.