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I have an indoor rose bush called a Parade Rose which is produced by Poulsen Roser. They are tiny little roses.

My situation is that I have completely ignored this little plant and now I feel awful about it. I've had it for almost a year now and at one time I did get one bloom. What I want to know is is there any way of saving it or should I just let it go? I obviously know that I would need to water it a lot more and add some type of fertilizer. Do I need to cut the dead leaves and stems back?

I would feel amazing if I could revive my little rose bush, but feel it might be too late!

Please help!
Mis

I've lost my share of miniature roses ... and then I discovered what I believe to be the answer to the whole thing. They are not truly indoor plants. The truth is that they want to live outdoors. You can plant them in the ground or, as I do, keep them in pots. I'm certainly not a pro, but this is how I would handle the plant:

Remove all the dead material, and prune the healthy stems back by about 1/3.

What size pot is it in? Does it need a larger one? If so, then repot it, and water it well. Don't water it again until the soil is dry to about 1" deep. (If the pot is quite small, water when it's dry down to about 1/2 inch. My roses are in 10" pots.)

Place it in a shady area outdoors during the day, and for the first week, bring it in during the night. Over the next two or three weeks, you can slowly move it into more sun, until it finally is in full sun all day. You can also leave it out a little longer each day, until finally it's staying outside all the time.

I leave my mini roses outside all winter long, but the weather is pretty mild here, as a rule. I don't know what it's like in your area. (In the winter, I move the pots up against the foundation on the south side of the house. They get some sun there, but not a lot, because of the deep soffits on my house.)

I wouldn't advise fertilizing your rose just yet. In general, it's better to wait until a plant shows signs of new growth before giving them any fertilizer.

Good luck! I hope you're able to save your little rose!

You said it, Kisal! I killed several miniature roses, too, until I got soooo exasperated with one that I told it, "Fine. Outside."

I potted it up, gave it a little compost, and--What Have We Here???

Not a miniature rose at all, but simply a rosebush constrained by its small root mass to be a small bush. Hmmm...maybe an almost bonsai-style rose? Maybe!

So, it's been outside now for at least 5 years and is about 1 to 1.5 feet high with normal-sized flowers on it. It gets as much sun as the in-ground roses do, and it's very happy.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

Kisal and Cynthia,

Me too! ...and I thought it was just me.

Thank you Kisal and everyone for your input. Hopefully, I can save the little guy. I'll get it outside as soon as possible and trim it back. I'll let you know if it does come back!!

Thank you again!