Do Miniature Roses need to sleep?

I bought a miniature rose on clearance near the end of fall. I've been watering it and leaving it on the windowsill. It stayed alive for awhile, then it lost all its leaves. I read that they do that because they need to have a resting period during the winter. But now my plant has grown a bunch of new, healthy leaves. I'm happy its alive again, but doesn't it need to sleep? I tried posting in the Rose forum but I'm not a paid subscriber. What should I do to help the plant sleep? Does it require sunlight when sleeping, cause I can leave it in a dark cold room if I have to.

Tender hybrid roses don't really have a dormancy period (due to certain of the parent species which don't), though dormancy can be induced by putting them in a dark, cool conditions through the winter.
What happened with your plant was a reaction to the sudden change in conditions, mainly to much lower light conditions, causing it to lose its leaves.

Oh alright, so should I let it continue to flourish? Or put it to sleep?

It's completely up to you, though windows rarely provide enough intensity of light for good plant health (other than for the low-light species that we typically use as "house plants").

I took over the care of a miniature Rose after my Mother-in-law passed away, that was 25 or more years ago, it was growing in a pot gifted to her when she was unwell, I had never seen a miniature Rose before and no idea of it's needs as it looked so fragile.
After a few mishaps like your experiences of fallen leaves, a few little pink buds on leafless branches I was ready to toss this plant out.

my Dad arrived for visit and told me to treat it like any other Rose bush, he grew the most prolific flowering Roses and healthy foliage too, so I put the miniature Rose out in the Garden, placed it in a slightly larger pot with a good quality compost with a little Rose feed added, sunk the pot into the flower border soil where it got plenty light, sun and rain water.
After a slow start, closer to summer, this little Miniature Rose showed what it's made of, it flowers all summer long, double pink flowers, (don't know the name sorry) the foliage, like all my Roses loose there foliage end of autumn (some years we have flowers at Christmas) but not the NORM, it gets a prune along with all my shrubs and plants that need a spring prune, feed to help give it the energy it requires for full flowering season, dont know about your rose but mine is full of thorns so be careful, these little beauties can scratch you.

My dad's advice was best, these plants are not grown for indoor use except maybe winter protection and that in lots of placed, can mean either a closh / frame, Plastic or Glass cover that allows air in but frost out.. Place this over the plant if dug into the soil or, bring in-doors with good light and cool conditions like garage close to light /window till the next spring, it should then give you many years of pleasure.
Good luck. WeeNel.

This message was edited Mar 9, 2015 12:29 PM

[quote="blomma] ... for they do need a dormant period just like their larger counterparts. [/quote]

Not true. Tender roses grow year-round in warmer areas. Think of the fields of roses cultivated by the big rose producers in California and elsewhere...

This message was edited Mar 9, 2015 12:30 PM

Dormant isn't the same as not blooming. Most plants will take breaks in between flushes of blooms (or some only have one brief time of year when they bloom) but that doesn't mean that they're dormant in all the months they're not blooming. My shrub roses keep their leaves all year round--they don't typically bloom much during the winter but I wouldn't say that they're dormant.

My miniature white rose pretty much has flowers year round....it has blooms now, after a few nights at or near freezing. It depends on climate conditions and the heritage of the plant.

Sorry this is kinda blurry, it is raining like no tomorrow here. As you can see, the rose takes on a pinkish tinge during the winter.

Rain?? Oh, I remember now, that's like liquid snow... ;-)

very beautifull flower...

Thanks ayesha, it thrives on neglect.

Alta, I did a quick search for comparison on rain and snow....Volume, not definition....8-)..and found that 1 inch of rain can equal 10 inches of accumulated snow... we have had just over 8 inches of rain thus far and woke up to another round of showers this morning. This link is interesting.

http://theweatherwiz.com/school/1-PRECIPITATION.htm

Woke up to snow this morning. So far 3/4" and still coming down.

I have had many miniature roses. My experience has been that they need full sun like a regular rose, that means outside at least most of the year. You can keep it in a pot or put it in the ground but if you want it continue to bloom you will need to feed it. You can check out the "rose food" at the hardware store and then decide what you want to do. If you only have one small rose you might want to just give it a more broad spectrum plant food that will be good for your other plants too. But roses really do need to be fed.

my daughter gave me a miniature rose 6 years ago i had it in the house until spring then i planted it out side and it bloomed all summer we moved i dug it up in the winter replanted in the ground that winter i covered it with a cloth but after that it still blooms all summer i trim it back in the spring it has beauitful little red rose on it i live in zone 5

Hi Hsquared22, what did you do in the end? I have the same problem now, and it isn't due to the fact that the rose plant was stressed. I got it this summer, it was beautiful, it bloomed, looked very healthy, etc. Then in november, although still mild weather, I brought it in thinking it could be green throughout the winter inside. All leaves started falling out towards the end of November, I thought it was going dormant and took it outside to cooler weather. Since we had an unprecedented warm December, it just now started to dip to mid 30s, I checked and the rose started putting out new leaves and branches turned green. I now have a dilemma - keep it in or take it outside to sleep (even after it appeared to have woken up). Any thoughts? Thanks.

Ps: just in case is relevant, I do not get a lot of sunshine inside, I have a patio that gets a bit more (definitely more light at least) but it is still shady for most part of the day.