Nervous with mini roses... begging for advice.

Interesting.
Thank you for the tips.
Do you think a large pot would make it happier, instead of the little ones they come in? Perhaps outside for the summer and inside for the winter?

 

Mini roses are all so different, some actually aren't that mini if you get them out and into the ground. I have had four out of five survive winters here in zone five. Two of the four were purchased online from a seller who had each variety marked as to how hardy it was, so I chose accordingly. Two were just picked up by me at the grocery store. The one that croaked was, of course, the gift from DH. Did yours have a tag with any advice on it?

I am not sure a large pot would be helpful, especially if you are prone to over watering. (Yellowing leaves are one sign of too much of a good thing.) Well, sometimes the pots that they come in are pretty small, and the potting mixture that they come in isn't really designed for the long term. But your plants as shown seemed pretty happy in the photos. I wouldn't do much until it is closer to a time that the plant might go outside, unless it seems like the plant is actively putting on new leaves. Then I would repot it in a better mixture for the long term, or best, outside after it is warm in a prepared bed. Well, maybe I would ditch the foil wrapper so I could see what was going on with the plant better.

Plants that need a cold period to go dormant really need a time that is cold, but not too cold. I'm not sure if your 50 degree window is okay or not. Below is a mini called Y2K. It is listed as being good from zone 5 to zone 10b, which is average low temps between -20 F to 35 degrees F. So that is cooler than 50 degrees, and I wonder if the plant would go dormant in your window.

A good rule of thumb in choosing perennials to keep in pots outside over the winter is that they should be hardy two zones colder. It's a lot colder out of the ground than in it. I am not sure there are any roses that are hardy two zones colder than it is in New England. (zone3 or 4 or 5?) I would plant it in the ground and then when the ground freezes I would cover it with maybe mulch and/or leaves, then row cover fabric, and a styrofoam cooler on top, if it would fit. (Two of my minis grew pretty large). Or at least plant it pot and all in the ground in a sheltered spot, like right next to a uninsulated foundation. Or is there a place in or under or around your house that is cold, but not as cold as it is outside in winter? I have friends here that overwinter some roses in pots down in their well, and another that has a crawl space that they store plants in. I used to have an unheated bedroom in my last house. I really miss that. Or a cold frame? I've overwintered zone 6 Goji berries in a cold frame.

 

Thank you for that information! It is very helpful!
There is a tag in the pot.
It says "Indoor, Bright light (bright sunny room all day), Water when the top inch of soil is dry, Feed every 2 weeks with an all-purpose liquid plant food." On the back it says "Mini Rose, 3 - 8 inhes tall, 12 - 20 inches wide, Hardy to 50 - 80 degrees F."
I have been trying to follow that, but the type of soil it is in is spongy, so I can't really tell if it is truly dry or not. Also, as with most of these tags, it is very generic sounding. I wanted more specific information. Thank you, and everybody who has been replying. I appreciate all of your help. I certainly don't want to lose these. My better half said he wanted to get them because they will last. The sign called them "Forever Mini-Roses." He was so happy with his idea. I can't stand the thought of letting him down.

Edit to update:
I saw new leaves, so I repotted it to buy me more time before I can put it outside. It is in a nice large pot now in the front window. It gets afternoon sun, and the light from the rest of the day is reflected in by the snow. The leaves are more yellow, some are dying off, the flowers dried, but new leaves are growing. I'm a bit confused, but hopeful. The top of the soil felt spongy, but when I pulled it out of the pot, the rest of the soil felt very dry. I'm hoping this other potting soil will make it easier for me to know when it is truly dry.
Here is a picture from just a few minutes ago:

 

If the soil was not thoroughly wet sounds to me like you are watering just a small amount at a time and part of the soil got too dry to accept water again easily. Peat based soil mixes can actually repel water and be hard to moisten if they get too dry. It is better for most container plants to get drenched so the water runs out the bottom of the pot, and then allowed to dry out before the next drenching. This also helps keep fertilizer salts and salts naturally occurring in the water from building up in the soil and ultimately hurting your plant. Did you get it good and wet when you were repotting? A trick I have for some plants that are hard to check how wet they are is to stick a chopstick down into the soil and then pull it out and see if it feels cool and wet. Looking at your photo, I think it won't be too hard to get your finger in there.

 

Update:
The mini roses are now in a large, self-watering pot. When I re-potted them, I noticed that there are 4 plants. Hopefully, there is enough room in this large pot for them to spread out. Before I started using the self-watering feature, I noticed that there was powdery mildew on the leaves. I am guessing it is because there are four plants so close together. I made the milk-water solution and sprayed them. They look great now! I'm so glad it is so simple! I think I might start using the self-watering feature now that the mildew is cleared up. I'll wait another week, but if it still looks good, I think I'll give it a try.
Because my mini-roses are so close to my tomato seedlings, whose leaves were also getting yellow, I sprayed them with the milk spray too. They are starting to look a bit better.

 

Update:
Had to trim and spray them a couple of more times.
Separated them from my tomato seedlings, but I think it's too late.
The roses are looking great with a lot of new growth again.

 

Another update:
Looks like the powdery mildew is gone but today, I came home from work and found one stem covered in white and green aphids!
I read something a while back about spraying with soapy water, so, since that was all I had at the ready, I did that. I waited about 15 minutes, then brought the pot in, sprayed it at the kitchen sink with water, and then sprayed the plant and soil with soapy water again.
Any thoughts and/or advice?

 

You did fine spraying it with soapy water. But why are you keeping it in the pot? or did I miss why? This is a plant that really needs to be planted outside, it would just do better.

 

What is this blue flower? anybody know?

 

Looks like a Campanula

 

The last update I made was the aphid attack and spraying with soapy water.
I lost 3 of the 4 rose plants and was determined to not lose my last remaining plant.
Somewhere, online, I found something about spraying the plant with rubbing alcohol. I carefully, but aggressively, sprayed the plant with water in the sink to clean off the bugs and the soap, scraped the top centimeter of soil up and threw it away, and then sprayed the plant and soil with rubbing alcohol. I filled the reservoir of the pot with water and waited. Each day, I checked the plant and if necessary, sprayed again with alcohol. That did the trick. The mildew and aphids are entirely gone. Here we are, a year later, and my plant is doing great! It is still in the pot, but because it is doing so well, I decided to keep it potted for now. It was just so shocking how the aphids attacked my roses even though they were only outside for a couple of hours. If that is what a couple of hours will accomplish, I don't want to think of putting them outside for good. I'll just baby it in its pot and keep it as part of the indoor family. Right now it is in a 12 inch pot, but I'll size up if necessary.

I took these pictures yesterday before trimming some flowers.





And here is a little bouquet of roses I trimmed after taking the above pictures.



I have to do a lot of pruning soon, but I don't have the heart to cut off the buds and new flowers.

 

Very nice and healthy Beeker,..congrats on managing a bouquet as well,..very pretty.

Now you should take a cutting from that remaining bush seen as its the only survivor,..sorry to see you lost three,..a cutting that has not produced a flower,..dip it in rooting powder,..stick it near the side of a pot and fingers crossed you will have another rose bush

 

Oooo... Thank you for that advice!
I didn't know I could do that with roses.
I will definitely give it a try!
Should I start with a small pot and as it grows larger, size it up, or just close to the side of a large pot and let it go?

 

Smallest pot i use is six inches across and seven inches deep,..this year i had seven roses take from cuttings,..there were nine starting for some reason two didn't take so fingers crossed when you start,..you are doing very well with your present rose bush,..top marks,..its always said,..caring for roses,..however it does get easier as you pick up more tips,..lots of good advise given from everyone helps.

 

I'm trying to find stems without flowers, but flowers are all over this plant!
I made another two bouquets too!
Today was pruning day, and I ended up clipping some flower buds as well. The plant needed to be shaped so I just had to do it. There are still plenty of buds and I do have more pruning to do, but I figured, since it is only June, I'll do a little trim here and a little trim there. I am keeping my eyes open for some spots that haven't produced flowers to try to root them.
Maybe next time I prune I'll find some.