Miniature and Miniflora Rose Suppliers - American Rose Society

Spring 2009 Volume 24 Issue 2 

‘Hot to Trot’ 

Miniflora 2006 

Hybridized by: Mitchie Moe

Editor’s Notes: 

In This Issue: 

Editor’s Notes ...…......….............… 2 

Dates of Interest ............................3 

Where Can I Find Miniature 

and Mini-Flora Roses? (Updated)..........4 

Our World in Miniature .................5 

A Bright Future for Mini-Floras ...30 

The Atlanta Award of Excellence 

Gardens .......................................34 

In this issue of the Miniature/Mini-Flora Bulletin you will find some very useful resources. 

First, I am very grateful to Luis Desamero for making available to the ARS Membership a thorough 

history of the evolution of the miniature rose. 

Luis first presented this paper in Adelaide, Australia at the 100th Anniversary of the Rose Society 

of South Australia on October 29, 2008. The conference was called “Let’s Celebrate”! 

Please be aware that all photo images contained in the paper are copyrighted by Luis Desamero unless 

otherwise noted. Please contact him for permission to use. 

In several cases Luis has included photographic images of miniatures that were not listed in the “tables” 

but which are also attributable to the listed hybridizers. 

This is a lengthy piece and would not have been possible to present to you in last year’s printed 

format. It is one of the great advantages of linking our specialized newsletters to our website so 

we can increase the content of our communication to our members. 

We are also most grateful to Mrs. Mitchie Moe for the article she prepared for us on miniatures 

from a hybridizer’s perspective. I am sure you will enjoy the article and the images she included 

that depict her efforts. 

When you finish reading these articles I am sure you will want to go out and get some more 

miniatures. I have updated the Mini/Miniflora sources document that was issued last quarter 

based on new information just received. 

On May 8th I had the opportunity to visit the Award of Excellence Test Gardens in Atlanta. Our 

last article will show you this beautiful garden and test gardens for both the Award of Excellence 

and The All America Rose Selections. If in the Atlanta Area this is a must see garden. 

In our next issue: 

Announcement of the ARS Award of Excellence winners for 2010 

Announcement of the Miniature/Mini-Flora Hall of Fame Honorees for 2009 

A tour of the All Miniature Conference held at Camp Hill, PA. 

A look at the Hershey, PA - - ARS Award of Excellence Test Gardens 

2

The Miniature and Miniflora Rose Bulletin 

is an official quarterly journal of the American Rose Society 

American Rose Society 

P.O. Box 30,000 

Shreveport, LA 71130-0030 

Steve Jones - President 

Jeff Wycoff - Vice President 

James Hering, M.D.- President Emeritus 

and Chairman of the Miniature and Miniflora Rose Committee 

Jeff Ware - Executive Director 

Philip Paul, Editor 

11006 Bullrush Terrace 

Lakewood Ranch, FL 34202-4145 

E-mail: pfpaul@verizon.net 

This publication is for rosarians who are interested in miniature and miniflora roses. 

The advice and information in this publication is believed to be true and accurate as of the date of 

publication. The authors, editors, and the American Rose Society assume no legal responsibility 

for errors and omissions that may have been made. 

This journal is published on the American Rose Society website as it’s sole distribution source. 

Miniature and Miniflora Dates of Interest: 

2009 American Rose Society Spring Convention and Rose Show 

Date: June 18-24, 2009 

Westin Bayshore Vancouver, British Columbia 

For more information contact: Sarah Lowis, CMP, CMM 

Convention and Festival Manager — E-mail: sarah@seatoskymeetings.com 

Convention Website: www.worldrose-vancouver2009.com 

2009 American Rose Society All-Miniature Rose Conference and Rose Show 

Date: July 17-19, 2009 

Location: Radisson Penn Harris Hotel & Convention Center 

Camp Hill, PA 

For more information contact: Glenn Smith phone: 717-938-9991 

Hosted by the York Area Rose Society E-mail: cowboysdal@aol.com 

3

Where Can I Find Miniature and Miniflora Roses? 

For the benefit of those who are just starting to purchase miniatures or minifloras, this table has been 

created for you. Miniatures or miniflora roses are not typically sold at your local nursery. Finding these 

roses is a question of locating them through an excellent network of retail mail order firms. Most are 

listed below. 

Miniature and Miniflora Rose Suppliers 

Supplier Address City, State, Zip Phone Web Address 

Almost Heaven Antique Roses ₃ ₅ 229 Richard Lane Iron Station, NC 28080 704-732-4787 www.almostheavenroses.com 

Cool Roses ₁ ₂ ₃ ₅ 888 Chase Road W. Palm Beach, FL 33415 561-684-2421 www.coolroses.com 

David Clemons www.thoroughbredroses.com 

Edmund's Roses 6235SW Kahle Road Wilsonville, OR 97070 503-682-1476 www.edmundsroses.com 

Groquest ₂ 135 Davis Street Santa Paula, CA 93060 805-253-0137 www.growquest.com 

Heirloom Roses ₂ 24062 NE Riverside St. Paul, OR 97137 503-538-1576 www.heirloomroses.com 

High Country Roses PO Box 148 Jensen, UT 84035 435-789-5512 www.highcountryroses.com 

John's Miniature Roses₂ 24062 NE Riverside Dr. St. Paul, OR 97137 800-820-0465 www.johnsminiatureroses.com 

Kimbrew, Walter Roses ₁ ₂ ₄ ₅ Route 2 – Box 172 Grand Saline, TX 75140 903-829-2968 www.sactorose.org/ 

roses/50kwroses 

Mitchie’s Roses and More 830 S. 373 Street Federal Way, WA 98003 253-815-1072 mailto:mjmoe@seanet.net 

Nor’East Miniature Roses ₆ PO Box 440 Arroyo Grande, CA 93421 800-426-6485 www.noreast‐miniroses.com 

Oregon Miniatures 8285 SW 185 th Ave. Beaverton, OR 97007 503-649-4482 No Site 

Rose Meadow Nursery PO Box 1253 Richmond, IN 47375 800-804-1253 www.rosemeadow.com 

Rosemania ₂ ₃ 4020 Trail Ridge Drive Franklin, TN 37067 888-600-9665 www.rosemania.com 

Roses Unlimited 363 N. Deerwood Dr. Laurens, SC 29360 864-682-7673 www.rosesunlimitedownroot.com 

Two Sisters Roses ₂ ₅ 2280 County Street 2860 Chickasha, OK 7318-8077 405-392-4544 www.twosistersroses.com 

Vintage Gardens ₂ 2833 Old Gravenstein Hwy S. Sebastopol, CA 95472 707-829-2035 www.vintagegardens.com 

Wells Midsouth Roses 471 Lucy Kelly Brighton, TN 38011 901-476-6064 50wells‐roses 

Legend: 1 Fortuniana Rootstock Mini/Miniflora Producer 

2 Excellent Selection, Mail Order Oriented 

3 David Clemons Roses available for purchase. 

4 To view Kimbrew Walter Roses see web site above, to order call by phone or e-mail to: 

kwroses@aol.com 

5 Whit Wells roses available for purchase. View the roses on The Sacto Rose Website 

(Baldo Villegas) select 50wells-roses, then contact Wells Midsouth Roses by phone. 

6 On May 23, 2009 Nor’East Roses announced that it is converting to a new wholesale distribution 

program in order to make its roses more readily available in the nationwide rose market. 

Retail miniatures and minifloras can still be purchased until retail inventories run out. The 

Mini/Miniflora Bulletin will publish the new Nor’East partners in a future issue. For more details 

on immediate purchase opportunities go to the Nor’East website and “view complete details” 

which has an excellent Questions and Answers section. 

Note: To use hyperlinks to websites, put your cursor on any character of the site you want to visit in the website list and then 

right click your mouse. Then select “Open Hyperlink”. The above links only work when used with this publication on the American 

Rose Society Website. 

Typically Minis and miniflora roses are provided on their own roots. The major exception would be in the southeastern U.S. 

and other areas where Fortuniana rootstock roses are typi-cally used and available. Cool Roses in West Palm Beach and Kimbrew-Walter 

Nursery are the major suppliers of Fortuniana Minis and Minifloras. 

We would be happy to add firms that have a good product selection. Send information to pfpaul@verizon.net 

4

T 

he over 2,500 miniature rose cultivars 

registered during the 20th century with 

the International Registration Authority 

for Roses (IRAR), namely the American 

Rose Society, must stand as a monument to 

the practical science of rose breeding. Geneticists 

and cytologists have made no major molecular 

progress in understanding the deliberate transmission 

of desirable traits in rose breeding. However, 

there should be no question that the general 

laws governing heredity do rule rose breeding. 

Major advances have been made either by 

serendipitous combinations or derived by a group of 

imaginative dreamers who count on their personal 

observations to transmit hardiness, vigor, disease 

resistance, etc. and are constantly on the lookout 

for that unusual seedling that represents genetic 

progress by visual inspection. Therefore, without 

the benefit of scientific data, choosing potential parents 

to initiate a breeding program can be characterized 

as either a chance success or more often a dismal 

failure. 

Until such times as there is a genetic data base that 

can ascertain with some degree of confidence 

the outcome, the chance combination theory 

must prevail with one exception to the rule. 

Persistent documented crosses as practiced in 

full scale breeding programs can reveal how 

to transmit some characteristics. Statistically 

the odds of producing a new variety with all the 

qualities of perfection are slim, often quoted by 

experienced miniature rose breeders at 1 in 10,000 

seedlings produced. To allow the reader to encompass 

the full flavor of hybridizing miniature roses 

the following text and tables traces the various key 

players, both amateur and professional, outlining 

their breeding production. This summary contains 

more than 2000 varieties subdivided by 

breeder and arranged chronologically. 

Around 1958 breeders developed a simple system 

of unique coding to avoid duplication at least in 

the registration process. Code names, appearing in 

parentheses immediately after the fancy names are 

simply a combination of first three letters of the 

breeder’s name or company in capital letters followed 

by some additional letters derived from the 

slang name given the rose during it’s evaluation 

period before formal introduction (and in many 

cases not easily pronounceable!). In this way, 

however, it easy to detect roses from a specific 

breeder. 

Our World in Miniature 

“The Creators of Miniature Roses” 

“By Luis Desamero, KM 

“The Ability to Dream, the Passion to Explore, the Endurance to Act” 

5 

THE BEGINNINGS 

Like all good stories, there should be a beginning. 

Our beginning starts off in Europe with the 

creation of the red blend miniature aptly named ‘Tom 

Thumb’ by DeVink and introduced in 1936 using 

‘Rouletii’ as seed parent. This single variety was perhaps 

the defining event in miniature rose breeding 

for it set the stage for both the momentum and 

inspiration that followed to explore this relatively 

new type of rose. DeVink was quick to recognize 

the importance of ‘Tom Thumb’ and involved it, 

mainly as a pollen parent, using as seed parents the 

cherry-pink polyantha, ‘Ellen Poulen’, introduced 

in 1911. This variety has originally been named 

‘Peon’ until the visiting American introducer, Robert 

Pyle, spotted it. Recognizing the potential of this variety 

Pyle later introduced the cultivar into the United 

States as ‘Tom Thumb’. It was an instant success 

with the public! While this winning combination 

was successfully employed by DeVink in producing 

a wide range of varying colors. Regrettably 

World War II interrupted the breeding program. 

However, it was the subsequent use of the light pink 

polyantha, ‘Mlle Cecil Brunner’ introduced in 

1881, as seed parent with ‘Tom Thumb’ as pollen 

parent that produced a significant variety for future 

use in hybridizing, namely ‘Cinderella’. 

Table 1. 

Miniature Roses by DeVink, Holland 

CULTIVAR COLOR YEAR PARENTAGE 

‘Tom Thumb’ rb 1936 [‘Rouletii’ X ‘Gloria Mundi’] 

‘Pixie’ w 1940 [‘Ellen Poulsen’ X ‘Tom Thumb’] 

‘Midget’ mr 1941 [‘Ellen Poulsen’ X ‘Tom Thumb’] 

‘Sweet Fairy’ lp 1946 [‘Tom Thumb’ X ‘Unnamed Seedling’] 

‘Red Elf’ dr 1949 [‘Eblouissant’ X ‘Tom Thumb’] 

‘Bo-Peep’ mp 1950 [‘Cécile Brunner’ X ‘Tom Thumb’] 

‘Red Imp’ dr 1951 [‘Ellen Poulsen’ X ‘Tom Thumb’] 

‘Humpty-Dumpty’ lp 1952 [(‘R. multiflora nana’ X ‘Mrs Pierre 

S. duPont F2') X ‘Tom Thumb’] 

‘Baby Bunting’ dp 1953 [‘Ellen Poulsen’ X Tom Thumb’] 

‘Cinderella’ w 1953 [‘Cécile Brunner’ X ‘Tom Thumb’] 

‘Prince Charming’ mr 1953 [‘Ellen Poulsen’ X ‘Tom Thumb’] 

‘Tinker Bell’ mp 1954 [‘Ellen Poulsen’ X ‘Tom Thumb’] 

‘Simple Simon’ mp 1955 [(‘R. multiflora nana’ X ‘Mrs Pierre 

S. duPont)F2' X ‘Tom Thumb’] 

‘Willie Winkie’ lp 1955 [‘Katharina Ziemet’ X ‘Tom Thumb’] 

‘Lillan’ pb 1958 [‘Ellen Poulsen’ X ‘Tom Thumb’]

Fascinated by miniature roses, another key 

European rose hybridizer, Pedro Dot from Spain, 

began experimenting with ‘Rouletii’ by using various 

hybrid teas and polyanthas as seed parents. In 

1940 his early success resulted in the first yellow 

miniature rose, ‘Baby Gold Star’, a cross using one 

of his own creations, the medium yellow hybrid tea, 

‘Eduardo Toda’. Here again World War II made it 

difficult for Dot to be active in rose breeding after 

losing his estate and the 50,000 rose bushes grown 

there. The land was used to produce potatoes 

and various vegetables. However, in 1944 and 

1945, Dot introduced two significance cultivars 

that would play major roles in the development 

of modern miniature roses, namely ‘Perla 

de Alcañada’ and ‘Perla de Montserrat’ using the 

1896 velvety crimson polyantha, ‘Perle de Rouges’ 

and once again the 1881 light pink polyantha, 

‘Mlle Cecil Brunner’ . Dot will always be remembered 

for creating perhaps the smallest miniature 

in the world, ‘Si’, with a bloom size close to 

that of a pinhead. 

Table 2. 

Miniature Roses by the House of Dot, 

Spain 


‘Baby Gold Star’ dy 1940 [‘Eduardo Toda’ X Rouletii’] 

‘Perla de Alcañada’ dp 1944 [‘Perle des Rouges’ X ‘Rouletii’] 

‘Perla de Montserrat’ pb 1945 [‘Cécile Brunner’ X ‘Rouletti’] 

‘Perla Rosa’ mp 1946 [‘Perle des Rouges’ X ‘Rouletti’] 

‘Granate’ dr 1947 [‘Merveille des Rouges’ X ‘Pompon de 

Paris’] 

‘Mon Petit’ dp 1947 [‘Merveille des Rouges’ X ‘Pompon de Paris’] 

‘Presumida’ yb 1948 [‘Eduardo Toda’ X ‘Pompon de Paris’] 

‘Anny’ w 1949 [‘Rouletii’ X ‘Perla de Montserrat’] 

‘Para Ti’ w 1949 [‘Eduardo Toda’ X ‘Pompon de Paris’] 

‘Rosada’ op 1950 [‘Perla de Alcanada’ X ‘Rouletii’] 

‘Rosina’ my 1951 [‘Eduardo Toda’ X ‘Rouletii’] 

‘Bambino’ mp 1953 [‘Perla de Alcañada pink sport’] 

‘Coralin’ or 1955 [‘Méphisto’ X ‘Perla de Alcañada’] 

‘Marilyn’ lp 1955 [‘Perla de Montserrat’ X ‘Bambino’] 

‘Granadina’ mr 1956 [‘Granate’ X ‘Coralín’] 

‘Robin’ (Robin) mr 1956 [‘Perla de Montserrat’ X ‘Perla de Alcanada’] 

‘Fiesta Brava’ or 1959 [‘Méphisto’ X ‘Perla de Alcañada’] 

‘Pixie Gold’ my 1961 [‘Perla de Montserrat’ X (‘Rosina’ X 

‘Eduardo Toda’)] 

‘Pixie Rose’ dp 1961 [‘Perla de Montserrat’ X ‘Coralín’] 

‘Pilar Dot’ op 1964 [‘Orient’ X ‘Perla de Alcanada’] 

‘Si’ w [‘Perla de Montserrat’ X (‘Anny’ X ‘Tom Thumb’)] 

‘Menut’ dp 1956 [‘Rouletii’ X ‘Perla de Alcanada’] 

‘Mabel Dot’ or 1966 [‘Orient’ X ‘Perla de Alcanada’] 

6 

Now the chronological story shifts continents to the 

United States. There can be no doubt that the two 

European rose breeders, DeVink and Dot, must be 

attributed the rights of being the early pioneers of 

miniature roses providing the basic genetic materials 

for further hybridizing. In 1940 the American rose 

breeder, Ralph S. Moore, of Visalia, California 

initiated a miniature rose breeding program that 

was to capture world attention and later catapult 

him into prominence as “Father of the Modern 

Miniature Rose”. 

The Legacy of Ralph Moore 

Creator, Dreamer, Great Composer ... are all terms 

that have been used to describe the herculean contributions 

of Ralph S. Moore to the development of 

modern miniature roses. Ralph began growing 

roses while still in high school. More than seventy 

years ago Ralph Moore started Sequoia Nursery in 

Visalia, a then sleepy hamlet just south of Fresno, 

California. His grandfather was credited with teaching 

the young Ralph the art of propagation from cuttings 

rather than via the traditional budding techniques. 

This habit caused Ralph to search for 

breeding stock that would impact more hardy, disease 

resistant characteristics as well as be easily propagated 

from cuttings. 

In 1935 Ralph Moore began experimenting with two 

miniatures, ‘Rouletii’ and ‘Oakington Ruby’, and a 

polyantha, ‘Etoile Luisante’. From the very outset 

of his career, Ralph was completely devoted to 

the concept of producing miniature roes in a wide 

diversity of color and form with a pleasing low bush 

habit to equal the traits of the popular hybrid 

teas and floribundas. For the past sixty years, 

Ralph Moore has achieved all of his goals and this 

report stands as overwhelming evidence of his successes. 

The official registration files maintained by the American 

Rose Society list close to 400 miniatures hybridized 

by Ralph Moore plus floribundas, hybrid teas, 

shrubs, ramblers, polyanthas and Old Garden Roses. 

His first efforts at hybridizing were ‘Baby Mine’ and 

‘Shelby Wallace’ in 1929. Over the span of 70 years 

Ralph Moore has made many varied and useful 

discoveries about breeding miniature roses. 

With limited space, the following events are considered 

among his most important contributions. 

The Birth of Zee 

One of his first seedlings, ‘Carolyn Dean’, a coppery 

pink five petaled rambler born from a cross of 

‘Etoile Luisante’ with another one of his seedlings, 

‘Sierra Snowstorm’, a light yellow shrub was deliberately 

crossed with ‘Tom Thumb’, one of the first of 

the modern miniature roses introduced by DeVink 

in 1936. The result was a climbing miniature with

medium pink buds opening to a clear pink flower 

with about 30 petals which he called ‘Zee’. Although 

Ralph never formally introduced ‘Zee’ for 

sale, he had discovered that crossing a rambler with a 

miniature not only produced some seedlings with a 

climbing habit, but also a good proportion of true 

bush miniature habit. ‘Zee’, of course, has had an 

illustrious career as pollen parent producing for 

Ralph Moore more than 30 offspring some with 

climbing habit such as ‘Candy Cane’, ‘Pink Cameo’ 

and ‘Work of Art’. In the bush class, ‘Zee’ was pollen 

parent to a large number of miniatures where 

‘Golden Glow’ was the seed parent - ‘Little Scotch’, 

‘Easter Morning’, ‘White King’, ‘Yellow Doll’, 

‘Peachy’, ‘Mary Adiar’, ‘Jackie’, ‘Sundust’ and 

‘Polka Dot’. 

Any attempt to sum up the diversity and depth of Ralph 

Moore’s contributions to the development of modern 

miniatures would be lacking several necessary ingredients 

for success - human perseverance, overwhelming 

desire, persistence and above all else the 

talent to dream. Ralph Moore can be compared to 

the great musical composers - he has brought to life 

many great compositions that will transcend the rigors 

of time. His modest character, however, will only 

admit to having played a significant role. 

Table 3. 

Miniature Roses created by Ralph S. 

Moore of California 

(1940-1960) 


‘Zee’ mp 1940 [‘Carolyn Dean’ X ‘Tom Thumb’] 

‘Centennial Miss’ dr 1952 [‘Oakington Ruby’ X ‘Oakington Ruby’] 

‘Cutie’ mp 1952 [‘Dancing Doll’ X ‘Oakington Ruby’] 

‘Frosty’ w 1953 [(‘R. wichurana’ X ‘Unnamed seedling’) X ‘Self’] 

‘Patty Lou’ pb 1953 [‘Oakington Ruby’ X ‘Oakington Ruby’] 

‘Pink Joy’ dp 1953 [‘Oakington Ruby’ X ‘Oakington Ruby’] 

‘Lemon Drop’ ly 1954 [(‘R. wichurana’ X ‘Floradora’) X ‘Zee’] 

‘Peggy Grant’ lp 1954 [(‘Robinette’ X ‘Mons. Tillier’) X ‘Zee’] 

‘Pink Cameo’ mp 1954 [(‘Soeur Thérèse’ X ‘Skyrocket’) X ‘Zee’] 

‘Snowflakes’ w 1954 [(‘R. wichurana’ X ‘Floradora’) X ‘Zee’] 

‘Thumbelina’ rb 1954 [‘Eblouissant’ X ‘Zee’] 

‘Fairy Princess’ lp 1955 [‘Eblouissant’ X ‘Zee’] 

‘Jackie’ ly 1955 [‘Golden Glow’ X ‘Zee’] 

‘Lilac Time’ m 1955 [‘Violette’ X ‘Zee’] 

‘Papoose’ w 1955 [‘R. wichurana’ X ‘Zee’] 

‘Bit o' Sunshine’ dy 1956 [‘Copper Glow’ X ‘Zee’] 

‘Candleflame’ yb 1956 [(‘Soeur Thérèse’ X ‘Julien Potin’) 

X (‘Eblouissant’ X ‘Zee’)] 

‘Little Buckaroo’ mr 1956 [(‘R. wichurana’ X ‘Floradora’) 

X (‘Oakington Ruby’ X ‘Floradora’) 

7 

‘Pink Clouds’ dp 1956 [‘Oakington Ruby’ X ‘R. multiflora’] 

‘Polka Dot’ w 1956 [‘Golden Glow’ X ‘Zee’] 

‘Redhead’ dr 1956 [(‘(Soeur Therese’ X ‘Skyrocket’) X 

(‘Seedling’ X ‘Red Ripples)’) X ‘Zee’] 

‘Baby Jayne’ mp 1957 [‘Violette’ X ‘Zee’] 

‘Dian’ dp 1957 [(‘R. wichurana’ X ‘Floradora’) X (‘Oakington 

Ruby’ X ‘Floradora’)] 

‘Jackie, Climbing’ ly 1957 [‘Golden Glow’ X ‘Zee’] 

‘Magic Wand’ dp 1957 [‘Eblouissant’ X ‘Zee’] 

‘Mary Haywood’ mp 1957 [(‘R. wichurana’ X ‘Floradora’) X 

‘Oakington Ruby’] 

‘Sparkie’ mr 1957 [(‘R. wichurana’ X ‘Floradora’) X ‘Little Buckaroo’] 

‘Spring Song’ pb 1957 [(‘R. wichurana’ X ‘Floradora’) X ‘Thumbelina’] 

‘Candy Cane’ pb 1958 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Zee’] 

‘Little Scotch’ ly 1958 [‘Golden Glow (LCl’) X ‘Zee’] 

‘Perky’ dp 1958 [(‘R. wichurana’ X ‘Floradora’) X ‘Oakington Ruby’] 

‘Westmont’ mr 1958 [(‘R. wichurana’ X ‘Floradora’) X 

(‘Oakington Ruby’ X ‘Floradora’)] 

‘Bobolink’ dp 1959 [(‘R. wichurana’ X ‘Floradora’) X 

(‘Oakington Ruby’ X ‘Floradora’)] 

‘Lollipop’ mr 1959 [(‘R. wichurana’ X ‘Floradora’) X ‘Little Buckaroo’] 

‘Mona Ruth’ mp 1959 [(‘(Soeur Thérèse’ X ‘Skyrocket’) X 

(‘Seedling’ X ‘Red Ripples)’) X ‘Zee’] 

‘Orange Elf’ ob 1959 [‘Golden Glow (LCl’) X ‘Zee’] 

‘Pink Heather’ lp 1959 [(‘R. wichurana’ X ‘Floradora’) X (‘Violette’ 

X ‘Zee’)] 

‘Easter Morning’ w 1960 [‘Golden Glow (Brownell’) X ‘Zee’] 

From 1940 to about the late 1950s Ralph 

Moore, along with DeVink and Dot, dominated 

the international miniature rose scene. 

Interest in miniature roses had caught the 

attention of fellow Californian, Dr. Morey 

Dennison. Primarily emulating the genetic 

treasure trove to be found by using ‘Tom 

Thumb’ as pollen parent (a la DeVink, Dot 

and Moore) and using a ‘Dick Koster’ polyantha 

sport, Dennison initiated a breeding 

line in 1958. His initial successes were well 

received, but his legacy was to breed two 

important varieties, namely ‘Baby Betsy 

McCall’ and ‘Popcorn’, introducing new genetic 

traits for future developments.

Ralph S. Moore Miniature Creations 

‘Candy Cane’ 1958 

‘Halo Rainbow’ 1994 

8 

‘Sweet Chariot’ 1985 

‘Halo Today ’ 1994

Table 4. 

Miniature Roses by Dr. Morey Dennison 

of California 


‘Blushing Jewel’ lp 1958 [‘Dick Koster sport’ X ‘Tom Thumb’] 

‘Diamond Jewel’ w 1958 [‘Dick Koster sport’ X ‘Tom Thumb’] 

‘Gay Jewel’ lp 1958 [‘Dick Koster sport’ X ‘Tom Thumb’] 

‘Rosy Jewel’ pb 1958 [‘Dick Koster sport’ X ‘Tom Thumb’] 

‘Ruby Jewel’ mr 1958 [‘Dick Koster sport’ X ‘Tom Thumb’] 

‘Baby Betsy McCall’ lp 1960 [‘Cécile Brünner’ X ‘Rosy Jewel’] 

‘Baby Garnette’ mr 1962 [‘Red Imp’ X ‘Sparkler’] 

‘Opal Jewel’ mp 1962 [‘Mothersday’ X ‘Rosy Jewel’] 

‘Temple Bells’ w 1971 [‘R. wichurana’ X ‘Blushing Jewel’] 

‘Royal Ruby’ mr 1972 [‘Garnette’ X (‘Tom Thumb’ X ‘Ruby Jewel’)] 

‘Popcorn’ w 1973 [‘Katharina Zeimet’ X ‘Diamond Jewel’] 

‘Symphonette’ pb 1973 [‘Cécile Brunner’ X ‘Cinderella’] 

‘Dusty Rose’ m 1974 [‘Amy Vanderbilt’ X ‘Cécile Brunner’] 

‘Elfinesque’ op 1974 [‘Little Darling seedling’ X ‘Yellow Bantam’] 

‘Lorraine Stebbings’ w 1985 [‘Cinderella’ X ‘Popcorn’] 

Also in the late 1950s, Francis Meilland of France, 

famous for his hybrid tea creation, ‘Peace’, became 

interested in breeding miniature roses. Using 

several of Dot’s miniatures he introduced in 

1958 two orange blend cultivars, ‘Colibri’ and 

‘Cricri’. His early attempts at breeding relied heavily 

on these Dot creations, ‘Perla de Alcanada’ and 

‘Perla de Monserrat’. But it was Louisette Meilland 

that created perhaps one of the most famous miniature 

roses, ‘Starina’. Introduced in 1965, this cultivar 

has all the elegance of its larger counterparts, the 

classical hybrid teas. It is still commercially available 

today celebrating its 40 birthday. ‘Starina’ 

gave the world of rose breeders a preview of what 

was to follow. Louisette continue to breed new 

miniature cultivars introducing both the 

“Meillandina” and “Sunblaze” line of hardy and 

brilliantly colored varieties suitable for landscaping 

as well as container grown. A critical examination 

of their efforts has revealed the trend away from 

just using the early miniature roses and introducing 

a long line of potential floribundas as seed parents, 

thereby giving the world additional genetic material 

for development. 

‘Popcorn’ 

9 

Table 5. 

Miniatures Roses by the House of Meilland 


‘Colibri’ (MEImal) ob 1958 [‘Goldilocks’ X ‘Perla de Montserrat’] 

‘Cricri’ (MEIcri) ob 1958 [(‘Alain’ X ‘Independence’) X ‘Perla de 

Alcañada’] 

‘Scarlet Gem’ (MEIdo) or 1961 [(‘Moulin Rouge’ X ‘Fashion’) X 

(‘Perla de Montserrat’ X ‘Perla de Alcanada’)] 

Baby Baccará’ (MEIbyba) or 1965 [‘Callisto’ X ‘Perla de Alcañada’] 

‘Mimi’ (MEIdesi) mp 1965 [‘Moulin Rouge’ X (‘Fashion’ X ‘Perla 

de Montserrat’)] 

‘Starina’ (MEIgabi) or 1965 [(‘Dany Robin’ X ‘Fire King’) X ‘Perla 

de Montserrat’] 

As the public demand for miniature roses grew, particularly 

in the United States with the prolific efforts 

of Ralph Moore, more and more rose enthusiasts 

came to understand that breeding did not need the 

extensive resources required for hybridizing hybrid 

teas. This realization then simulated a whole host of 

so called “Mum & Pop” operations giving individuals 

the opportunity to be amateurs in their own 

backyards! 

Probably the first individual to seriously catch this 

“miniature rose fever” was a retired Texan printer/ 

photographer named Ernest C. Williams. His aims 

were to produce exhibition style miniature roses with 

exactly the same classical shape and form of hybrid 

teas while retaining disease resistance and vigor. 

Relying on the early successes observed in the 

Ralph Moore breeding program, Ernest Williams 

wisely started off by concentrating on seed parents 

like the floribunda ‘Little Darling’ and pollen parents 

like the Moore miniature ‘Over The Rainbow’. 

Among his initial introductions were 

‘Starglo’ and ‘Hula Girl’ destined to receive 

the ARS Award of Excellence upon its establishment 

in 1975 sharing honors with many cultivars 

from the Moore stable of winners. Indeed he continued 

to use the “glo” series until the end of his 

active breeding career. For almost 30 years Williams 

continued to depend on ‘Over The Rainbow’ 

by Moore in producing a wide range of vibrant colors 

and hues. By 1980 he began using a LeGrice 

russet floribunda called ‘Tom Brown’ as seed parent 

creating several unique tan colored cultivars such as 

‘Suntan Beauty’ and ‘Sands of Time’ and 

‘Amberglo’. Williams was a dynamic force in miniature 

rose breeding introducing almost 130 cultivars, 

each possessing the attributes he aspired to and in a 

range of unusual colors and blends. Many of his cultivars 

have survived the test of test and are still commercially 

available and exhibited across America.

Table 6. 

Miniature Roses by Ernest C. Williams 

(1965-1980) 


‘Baby Cheryl’ lp 1965 [‘Spring Song’ X ‘Seedling’] 

‘Jian’ mr 1965 [‘Juliette’ X ‘Oakington Ruby’] 

‘Prissy Missy’ mp 1965 [‘Spring Song’ X ‘Seedling’] 

‘Little Juan’ mr 1966 [‘Juliette’ X ‘Seedling’] 

‘Kathy Robinson’ pb 1968 [‘Little Darling’ X ‘Over the Rainbow’] 

‘Madelyn Lang’ dp 1970 [‘Little Darling’ X ‘Little Chief’] 

‘Starglo’ w 1973 [‘Little Darling’ X ‘Jet Trail’] 

‘Warwhoop’ or 1973 [‘Baccará’ X ‘Little Chief’] 

‘Hula Girl’ ob 1975 [‘Miss Hillcrest’ X ‘Mabel Dot’] 

‘Sassy Lassy’ yb 1975 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Over the Rainbow’] 

‘Tiny Warrior’ rb 1975 [‘Starburst’ X ‘Little Chief’] 

‘Don Don’ dr 1976 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Over the Rainbow’] 

‘Gloriglo’ ob 1976 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Over the Rainbow’] 

‘Miami Holiday’ rb 1976 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Over the Rainbow’] 

‘Roseanna’ dp 1976 [‘Little Darling’ X ‘Seedling’] 

‘Careless Moment’ pb 1977 [‘Little Darling’ X ‘Over the Rainbow’] 

‘Elfinglo’ m 1977 [‘Little Chief’ X ‘Little Chief’] 

‘Pink Shadow’ dp 1977 [‘Over the Rainbow’ X ‘Over the Rainbow’] 

‘Twilight Beauty’ m 1977 [‘Angel Face’ X ‘Over the Rainbow’] 

‘Carnival Parade’ yb 1978 [‘Starburst’ X ‘Over the Rainbow’] 

‘Cupid's Beauty’ ob 1978 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Over the Rainbow’] 

‘Dreamglo’ rb 1978 [‘Little Darling’ X ‘Little Chief’] 

‘Red Tag’ rb 1978 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Over the Rainbow’] 

‘Rose Window’ ob 1978 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Over the Rainbow’] 

‘Spring Frolic’ my 1978 [(‘Little Darling’ X ‘Gold Coin’) X 

‘Golden Angel’] 

‘Big John’ mr 1979 [‘Starburst’ X ‘Over the Rainbow’] 

‘Bit o' Magic’ pb 1979 [‘Over the Rainbow’ X ‘Over the Rainbow’] 

‘Carnival Glass’ ob 1979 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Over the 

Rainbow’] 

‘Glamorous’ or 1979 [‘Starburst’ X ‘Over the Rainbow’] 

‘Sarajean’ pb 1979 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Over the Rainbow’] 

‘Amy's Delight’ mp 1980 [‘Little Darling’ X ‘Little Chief’] 

‘Bit o' Spring’ pb 1980 [‘Tom Brown’ X ‘Golden Angel’] 

‘Charmglo’ pb 1980 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Over the Rainbow’] 

‘Gold 'n' Flame’ rb 1980 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Over the Rainbow’] 

‘Golden Song’ (Golden Song) yb 1980 [‘Little Darling’ X 

‘Golden Angel’] 

‘Magic Mist’ mr 1980 [‘Tom Brown’ X ‘Little Chief’] 

‘Retina’ mr 1980 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Over the Rainbow’] 

10 

Meanwhile in Europe, the established rose nurseryman, 

Gijs de Ruiter of Holland began to be 

interested in miniature rose breeding and by 1973 

introduced his first effort, ‘Tapis Jaune’. In 1978 

he introduced the world class renowned medium 

pink variety, ‘Angela Rippon’ followed in 1983 

by the mauve ‘Blue Peter’. By 1991 de Ruiter 

had successfully introduced miniatures as 

house plants to the public in his “Minimo” series. 

Table 7. 

Miniature Roses by Giys de Ruiter of Holland 


‘Tapis Jaune’ (RUgul) my 1973 [‘Rosy Jewel’ X ‘Allgold’] 

‘Crimson Gem’ (Crimson Gem) dr 1974 [‘Lillan’ X 

‘Polyantha seedling’] 

‘Angela Rippon’ (OcaRU) mp 1978 [‘Rosy Jewel’ X ‘Zorina’ 

‘Amruda’ (Amruda) dr 1979 [‘Scarletta’ X ‘Seedling’] 

‘Amorette’ (AmoRU) w 1980 [‘Rosy Jewel’ X ‘Zorina’] 

‘Finstar’ (RUfin) op 1982 [‘Minuette’ X ‘Seedling’] 

‘Blue Peter’ (RUIblun) m 1983 [‘Little Flirt’ X ‘Seedling’] 

‘Little Marvel’ (RUIgerdan) or 1988 [‘Seedling’ X 

‘Seedling’] 

‘Orange Rosamini’ (RUIseto) or 1988 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Red Rosamini’] 

‘Red Rosamini’ (RUIredro) dr 1988 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Seedling’] 

‘Red Minimo’ (RUImired) dr 1991 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Seedling’] 

By the early 1970s miniature roses were becoming 

as popular as floribundas and hybrid teas and the 

explosion of amateurs taking up the hobby in a 

commercial sense had began, particularly in the 

United States. This ability to be self sustaining 

in your backyard appealed to a large of rose growers 

and many took the plunge! For instance, 

Lyndon Lyon by 1977 was in full production 

mode introducing 9 new cultivars depending on the 

offspring of ‘Therese Bugnet’ in his program. In 

later years, his reliance on ‘Baby Betsy McCall’ 

by Dennison became obvious for its genetic inheritance.

Table 8. 

Miniature Roses bred by Lyndon Lyon 

(1975-1979) 


‘Red Cheer’ mr 1975 [‘seedling’ X ‘seedling’] 

‘Daisy Doll’ pb 1977 [‘Little Amy’ X ‘Seedling’] 

‘Gold Pique’ my 1977 [‘seedling’ X ‘Yellow Jewel’] 

‘Little Chameleon’ pb 1977 [‘Little Amy’ X ‘?’] 

‘Little Love’ mp 1977 [‘Little Amy’ X ‘Seedling’] 

‘Merry Christmas’ mr 1977 [‘Red Can Can’ X ‘?’] 

‘New Gold’ dy 1977 [‘Yellow Jewel’ X ‘Allgold’] 

‘Pip’ mr 1977 [‘N74' X ‘Seedling’] 

‘Red Can Can’ mr 1977 [‘Seedling’ X ‘?’] 

‘Red Magic’ mr 1977 [‘Red Can Can’ X ‘?’] 

‘Dandy Lyon’ dy 1978 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Sunspot’] 

‘Little Smiles’ yb 1978 [‘Q17a’ X ‘Redgold’] 

‘Missy’ mr 1978 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Seedling’] 

‘Sunstruck’ yb 1978 [‘Redgold’ X ‘?’] 

‘Abba Dabba’ mr 1979 [‘Red Can Can’ X ‘Seedling’] 

By the early 1980s there was an immense drive on all 

continents to provide more and more varieties to 

capture the attention of the rose buying public. In 

the United Kingdom there was competitive activity 

between established nurseries in Scotland, Northern 

Ireland and England. In Scotland the House of 

Cocker under Anne Cocker began in 1983 including 

in their catalog a selection of miniature roses, 

some with a strictly Scottish flavor! Of notable 

comment there the varieties “Wee Jock’ and 

‘Highland Laddie’, both out of the red hybrid tea 

“National Trust’. The use of the Meilland bred 

miniature, ‘Darling Flame’, is prominent in this 

program. 

Table 9. 

Miniature Roses from the House of Cocker 


‘Boys' Brigade’ (COCdinkum) mr 1983 [(‘Darling Flame’ X ‘Saint 

Alban’) X (‘Little Flirt’ X ‘Marlena’)] 

‘Scottish Special’ (COCdapple) lp 1985 [‘Wee Man’ X ‘Darling 

Flame’] 

‘Coral Reef’ (COCdarlee) op 1986 [(‘Darling Flame’ X ‘St. Albans’) X 

‘Silver Jubilee’] 

‘Little Jewel’ (COCabel) dp 1980 [‘Wee Man’ X ‘Belinda’] 

‘Wee Jock’ (COCabest) mr 1980 [‘National Trust’ X ‘Wee Man’] 

‘Dainty Dinah’ (COCamond) op 1981 [‘Anne Cocker’ X ‘Wee Man’] 

‘Cha Cha’ (COCarum) ob 1982 [(‘Wee Man’ X ‘Manx Queen’) X 

‘Darling Flame’] 

11 

‘Little Prince’ (COCcord) or 1982 [‘Darling Flame’ X (‘National 

Trust’ X ‘Wee Man’)] 

‘Pink Posy’ (COCaneila) m 1982 [‘Trier’ X ‘New Penny’] 

‘Pink Posy’ (COCanelia) m 1982 [‘Trier’ X ‘New Penny’] 

‘Bianco’ (COCblanco) w 1983 [‘Darling Flame’ X ‘Jack 

Frost’] 

‘Claire Scotland’ (COCdimity) ab 1992 [(‘National Trust’ X 

‘Wee Man’) X ‘Darling Flame’] 

‘Hello’ (COChello) mr 1992 [‘Darling Flame’ X ‘Seedling’] 

‘Conservation’ (COCdimple) pb 1986 [(‘(Sabine’ X ‘Circus’) X 

‘Maxi’) X ‘Darling Flame’] 

‘Highland Laddie’ (COCflag) mr 1989 [‘National Trust’ X ‘Dainty 

Dinah’] 

In the early 1980s in Northern Ireland the established 

House of Dickson under patriarch Patrick Dickson 

also introduced a new line of miniature roses using 

unconventional approaches to breeding in that 

they selected seed parents using their own hybridized 

floribundas such as ‘Memento’ crossed with 

a Japanese bred climbing miniature, ‘Nozomi’ by 

Onodera. While many of their cultivars have survived 

the test of time, their most famous introduction in 

1987, ‘Cider Cup’, remains as popular today as 

when it was introduced. 

Table 10. 

Miniature Roses bred by the House of 

Dickson of 

Northern Ireland 


‘Brass Ring’ (DICgrow) ob 1981 [‘Memento’ X ‘Nozomi’] 

‘Buttons’ (DICmickey) or 1986 [(‘Liverpool Echo’ X ‘Woman's 

Own’) X ‘Memento’] 

‘Gentle Touch’ (DIClulu) lp 1986 [(‘Liverpool Echo’ X ‘Woman's 

Own’) X ‘Memento’] 

‘Little Woman’ (DIClittle) pb 1986 [‘Memento’ X (‘Liverpool Echo’ X 

‘Woman's Own’)] 

‘Sweet Magic’ (DICmagic) ob 1986 [‘Peek A Boo’ X ‘Bright 

Smile’] 

‘Cider Cup’ (DICladida) ob 1987 [‘Memento’ X (‘Liverpool Echo’ X 

‘Woman's Own’)] 

‘Tear Drop’ (DIComo) w 1988 [‘Pink Spray’ X ‘Bright 

Smile’] 

‘Shine On’ (DICtalent) op 1994 [‘Sweet Magic’ X 

‘seedling’] 

‘Marry Me’ (DICwonder) mp 1999 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Cider Cup’] 

‘Dick's Delight’ (DICwhistle) dp 1999 [‘Seedling’ X ‘The Fairy’] 

‘Rainbow Magic’ (DICxplosion) rb 1999 [‘Sunseeker’ X 


In true competitive camaraderie the House of 

Harkness in England entered the commercial miniature 

rose market in 1978 with their introduction of 

‘Red Dot’ using a Ralph Moore cultivar, ‘Little

Buckaroo’ as pollen parent. In 1980 the introduction 

of ‘Anna Ford’, a marriage between the Harkness 

floribunda, ‘Southampton’ and the Meilland 

‘Darling Flame’ proved to be a huge success. 

Table 11. 

Miniature Roses bred by the House of 

Harkness 


‘Red Dot’ mr 1978 [(‘Marlena’ X ‘Kim’) X ‘Little Buckaroo’] 

‘Esther's Baby’ (HARkinder) mp 1979 [(‘Vera Dalton’ X (‘Chanelle’ X 

‘Piccadilly’)) X ‘Little Buckaroo’] 

‘Anna Ford’ (HARpiccolo) ob 1980 [‘Southampton’ X ‘Darling Flame’] 

‘John Bradshaw’ (HARquisp) dp 1985 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Esther's Baby’] 

‘Crispin-Morwenna’ (HARkitten) or 1980 [(‘Vera Dalton’ X 

(‘Chanelle’ X ‘Piccadilly’)) X ‘Little Buckaroo’] 

‘Clarissa’ (HARprocrustes) ab 1982 [‘Southampton’ X ‘Darling Flame’] 

‘Hollie Roffey’ (HARramin) mp 1985 [(‘Tip Top’ X (‘Manx Queen’ X 

‘Golden Masterpiece’)) X ‘Darling Flame’] 

‘Guiding Spirit’ (HARwolave) dp 1988 [(‘Blue Moon’ X ‘Seedling’) 

X ‘Little Prince’] 

‘Pallas’ (HARvestal) lp 1989 [‘Clarissa’ X ‘New Penny’] 

‘Pandora’ (HARwinner) w 1989 [‘Clarissa’ X ‘Darling Flame’] 

‘Phoebe’ (HARvander) lp 1989 [‘Clarissa’ X (‘Seedling’ X ‘Mozart’)] 

‘Phoenix’ (HARvee) rb 1989 [‘Clarissa’ X (‘Wee Man’ 

X (‘Southampton’)] 

Meanwhile on the North Island of New Zealand, 

recent immigrant from Northern Ireland, 

Sam McGredy best known for creating some of 

the world’s favorite hybrid teas and floribundus, 

had began to experiment in the breeding of 

miniature roses. In 1973 McGredy introduced his first 

cultivar, ‘Anytime’, a stunning attractive orange 

single petaled variety born from a 1962 variety from 

Ralph Moore in California called ‘New Penny’. This 

clever and intuitive stroke of genius from McGredy 

recognized the strong and desirable genetic 

background of ‘New Penny’, that of a cross between 

‘R. Wichurana’ and ‘Floradora’. Indeed 

McGredy continue to use both Moore’s ‘New 

Penny’ and his own ‘Anytime’ in his breeding 

program. However, Ralph Moore in his wisdom had 

detected a faint but noticeable purple halo around 

the central stamens of ‘Anytime’, an observation that 

eventually resulted in the development of the attractive 

single petaled “halo” series from Moore such as 

‘Halo Glory’, ‘Halo Sweetie’, ‘Halo Fire’, ‘Halo 

Rainbow’, and ‘Halo Today’. McGredy was successful 

in introducing stripes into the miniature 

color ranges with varieties like ‘Little Artist’, ‘Roller 

Coaster’, and ‘Hurdy Gurdy’. 

‘Little Artist ‘ 

By Sam McGredy 

12 

Table 12. 

Miniature Roses bred by Sam McGredy 


‘Anytime’ op 1973 [‘New Penny’ X ‘Elizabeth 

of Glamis’] 

‘Tick-Tock’ ob 1973 [‘New Penny’ X ‘Elizabeth 

of Glamis’] 

‘Woman's Own’ mp 1973 [‘New Penny’ X 

‘Tip-Top’] 

‘Wee Man’ mr 1974 [‘Little Flirt’ X ‘Marlena’] 

‘Royal Salute’ (MACros) mr 1976 [‘New Penny’ X 

‘Marlena’] 

‘Kaikoura’ (MACwalla) ob 1978 [‘Anytime’ X 

‘Matangi’] 

‘Ko's Yellow’ (MACkosyel) yb 1978 [(‘New Penny’ X 

‘Banbridge’) X (‘Border Flame’ X ‘Manx Queen’)] 

‘Moana’ (MACbipi) mp 1978 [‘Seedling’ X ‘New 

Penny’] 

‘Otago’ (MACnecta) or 1978 [‘Anytime’ X ‘Minuette’] 

‘Takapuna’ (MACtenni) op 1978 [‘New Penny’ X 

(‘(Clare Grammerstorf’ X ‘Cavalcade’) X ‘Elizabeth of 

Glamis’)] 

‘Waitmata’ (MACweemat) rb 1978 [‘Wee Man’ X 


‘Wanaka’ (MACinca) or 1978 [‘Anytime’ X 

‘Trumpeter’] 

‘Snow Carpet’ (MACcarpe) w 1980 [‘New Penny’ X 

‘Temple Bells’] 

‘Angelita’ (MACangel) w 1981 [‘Moana’ X ‘Snow 

Carpet’] 

‘Hi-de-hi’ (MACanat) mp 1981 [‘Anytime’ X 

‘Gartendirektor Otto Linne’] 

‘Dorola’ (MACshana) dy 1982 [‘Darling Flame’ X 

‘New Day’] 

‘Little Artist’ (MACmanley) rb 1982 [‘Eyepaint’ X 

‘Ko's Yellow’] 

‘Paragon’ (MACkosred) mr 1982 [‘Ko's Yellow’ X 

‘Little Artist’] 

‘Seaspray’ (MACnew) pb 1982 [‘Anytime’ X 

‘Moana’] 

‘Seaspray’ (MACnewing) pb 1982 [‘Anytime’ X 

‘Moana’] 

‘Academy’ (MACgutsy) pb 1983 [‘Anytime’ X 


‘Freegold’ (MACfreego) dy 1983 [‘Seaspray’ X ‘Dorola’] 

‘MACspice’ (MACspice) m 1983 [‘Anytime’ X 


‘MACspice’ (MACspike) m 1983 [‘Anytime’ X 


‘Baby Sunrise’ (MACparlez) ab 1984 [‘Dorola’ X 

‘Moana’]

‘Grandee’ (MAChomai) dr 1984 [‘Regensberg’ X ‘Ko's Yellow’] 

‘Ragtime’ (MACcourlod) pb 1984 [‘Mary Sumner’ X ‘Unnamed 

seedling’] 

‘Firefly’ (MACfrabro) ob 1985 [‘Mary Sumner’ X ‘Ko's Yellow’] 

‘Hurdy Gurdy’ (MACpluto) rb 1986 [‘Matangi’ X ‘Stars 'n' Stripes’] 

‘Roller Coaster’ (MACminmo) rb 1987 [(‘Anytime’ X ‘Eyepaint’) 

X ‘Stars 'n' Stripes’] 

‘Tara Allison’ (MACwaiwer) or 1987 [‘Wanaka’ X ‘Eyepaint’] 

‘Melanie’ (MACmelan) op 1988 [‘Seaspray’ X ‘Wanaka’] 

‘Singalong’ (MACsingal) op 1988 [(‘Anytime’ X ‘Eyepaint’) X 

‘New Year’] 

‘Whistle Stop’ (MACmosco) rb 1988 [‘Mighty Mouse’ X ‘Hurdy 

Gurdy’] 

‘Whiteout’ (MACwhitout) w 1988 [‘Sexy Rexy’ X ‘Popcorn’] 

‘Marriotta’ (MACcricke) dp 1989 [‘Seaspray’ X ‘Little Artist’] 

‘Nickelodeon’ (MACnickel) rb 1989 [‘Roller Coaster’ X ‘[Freude’ X 

‘[(Anytime’ X ‘Eyepaint’) X ‘Stars 'n'Stripes]]’] 

‘Kiwi Sunrise’ (MACpaurmar) ob 1993 [‘Orange Honey’ X 

‘Pandemonium’] 

With the retirement of Sam McGredy, his colleague 

and friend, Frank Schuurman has continued the 

miniature breeding program producing such commercially 

successful varieties as the medium color fast 

yellow ‘Little Nugget’, the light pink ‘Little Opal’ 

and mauve ‘Pinocchio’. 

Table 13. 

Miniature Roses bred by Frank Schuurman 


‘Little Nugget’ (SUNgold) my 1992 [‘Lorena’ X ‘Firefly’] 

‘Little Opal’ (SUNpat) lp 1992 [‘White Dream’ X ‘Dicky Bird’] 

‘Little Pearl’ (SUNpearl) lp 1992 [‘Innocent’ X ‘MACfrabro 

(Firefly’)] 

‘Patio Gem’ (SUNsalm) op 1992 [‘Sexy Rexy’ X ‘Firefly’] 

‘Aladdin’ (SUNalad) op 1999 [‘Tinkerbell’ X ‘Texas’] 

‘Goldilocks’ (SUNlock) my 1999 [‘Scentasia’ X 


‘Little Diamond’ (SUNdia) or 1999 [‘Sexy Rexy’ X 

‘Firefly’] 

‘Little Jewel’ (SUNjew) ob 1999 [‘Innocenti’ X 

‘Firefly’] 

‘Little Sapphire’ (SUNsap) mp 1999 [‘White Dream’ X ‘seedling’] 

‘Pinocchio’ (SUNpino) m 1999 [‘Tinkerbell’ X ‘Chess’] 

‘Reddy Teddy’ (SUNhino) ab 1999 [‘Sexy Rexy’ X ‘Firefly’] 

‘Scentasia’ (SUNscent) ly 1999 [‘Tinkerbell’ X ‘Little Nugget’] 

‘Thumbelina’ (SUNthumb) ly 1999 [‘Champagner’ X 

‘Tinkerbell’] 

13 

On the South Island of New Zealand, Dawn and Barry 

Eagle of Southern Cross Nurseries has also initiated 

their own breeding program to augment the imported 

varieties from both the United States and Europe. 

Depending on varieties bred by Moore and others 

they have successfully introduced many new miniatures 

with a “down-under” flavor. 

Table 14. 

Miniature Roses bred by Dawn & Barry Eagle 


‘Selwyn Toogood’ mp 1983 [‘Heidi’ X ‘?’] 

‘Calumet’ (SOCapan) yb 1985 [‘Golden Angel’ X ‘Golden Angel’] 

‘Orange Spice’ (SOCotra) ob 1985 [‘Over the Rainbow’ X ‘Over the 

Rainbow’] 

‘Petticoat Lane’ (SOCamp) pb 1985 [‘Pink Petticoat’ X ‘Pink Petticoat’] 

‘Moonlight Lady’ (SOCalp) w 1986 [‘Pink Petticoat’ X ‘Pink Petticoat’] 

‘Aoraki’ (SOCmount) w 2003 [‘Jeanne Lajoie’ X ‘seedling’] 

‘Black Magic’ (SOCred) dr 2003 [‘Patio Prince’ X ‘Black 

Jade’] 

‘Bundle of Joy’ (SOCmagic) lp 2003 [‘Magic Carrousel’ X 

‘unknown’] 

‘My Sister’ (SOCsis) w 2003 [‘Winter Magic’ X ‘seedling’] 

‘Panache’ (SOCpan) pb 2003 [‘Sachet’] 

‘Sarah Jayne’ (SOCbob) ob 2003 [‘Patio Flame’ X ‘Golden Angel’] 

‘Southern Alps’ (SOCsouth) w 2003 [‘Jeanne Lajoie’ X ‘seedling’] 

‘Southern Dawn’ (SOCkap) lp 2003 [‘Kapiti’ X ‘seedling’] 

‘Southern Honey’ (SOCdoc) my 2004 [‘Golden Angel’ X ‘San Jose 

Sunshine’] 

The Golden Age of Miniature Roses 

By the 1970s miniature roses had gained much 

popularity throughout the world that the demand for 

diversity of color and form had grown exponentially. 

Ralph Moore has clearly shown the way to successful 

hybridizing and the ability of an amateur to meet 

the challenges of breeding in their private gardens. 

All across America, there grew almost overnight 

an army of amateur rose growers smitten with the 

strong desire to create new miniature roses. This is 

their story and the wonderful creations they 

developed sometimes under adverse circumstances 

and sometimes with joy in their hearts. To 

add fuel to this furnace of activity, the American Rose 

Society had established special rose trials for miniature 

roses called the “Award of Excellence”. Competition 

for these coveted awards stimulated the amateurs 

to match the genius of Moore and others.

Among the giants of this amateur uprising the solitary 

woman, in what was a man’s world to date, was 

an Australian born lady living in Southern California 

by the name of Dee Bennett. From the very 

beginning her goal was concentrated on producing 

exhibition style miniature roses in all colors 

in her own garden in Chula Vista. She quickly 

gained the necessary expertise and soon the backyard 

was transformed into her own commercial nursery 

called “Tiny Petals”, a nucleus for keen exhibitors 

from all over the United States. In the beginning, Dee 

followed conventional wisdom depending on previous 

selected parents by Moore, Williams, and others. 

Eventually, with experience on her side, she 

developed her own brand of miniature rose breeding 

by using such seed parents as the deep mauve 

floribunda ‘Deep Purple’, the light pink hybrid 

tea ‘Electron’, and orange floribunda ‘Tiki’, all well 

known for their exquisite hybrid tea form. However, 

her discovery that the orange red hybrid tea, 

‘Futura’, made an excellent seed parent was a stroke 

of genius. Combined with pollen from an award winning 

miniature bred by Harm Saville, called ‘Party Girl’, 

Dee produced a record number of award winning 

roses from this combination - ‘My Delight’, ‘Pink 

Porcelain’, ‘Pucker Up’, ‘Sugar 'n' Spice’,’Jean Kenneally’, 

‘Sweet Pickins’, ‘Mother's Love’, and 

‘Naughty But Nice’. Her herculean efforts resulted 

in a catalog of premier exhibition miniature roses covering 

the complete alphabet! That’s a real legacy! 

Table 15. 

Miniature Roses bred by Dee Bennett 

(1978-1983) 


‘Ada Perry’ op 1978 [‘Little Darling’ X ‘Coral Treasure seedling’] 

‘Angel Dust’ w 1978 [‘Magic Carrousel’ X ‘Magic Carrousel’] 

‘Plum Duffy’ m 1978 [‘Magic Carrousel’ X ‘Magic Carrousel’] 

‘Cissie’ mp 1979 [‘Gene Boerner’ X ‘Elfinesque’] 

‘Lelia Laird’ rb 1979 [‘Contempo’ X ‘Sheri Anne’] 

‘Luvvie’ pb 1979 [‘Little Darling’ X ‘Over the Rainbow’] 

‘Peachy Keen’ ab 1979 [‘Little Darling’ X ‘Sheri Anne’] 

‘Sweet Sue’ lp 1979 [‘Pink Ribbon’ X ‘Pink Ribbon’] ‘ 

‘Tiffie’ lp 1979 [‘Little Darling’ X ‘Over the Rainbow’] 

‘Tiny Tears’ mp 1979 [‘Pink Ribbon’ X ‘Pink Ribbon’] 

‘Dominique’ lp 1981 [‘Electron’ X ‘Little Chief’] 

‘Georgette’ mp 1981 [‘Electron’ X ‘Little Chief’] 

‘Twinkle Twinkle’ ab 1981 [‘Contempo’ X ‘Sheri Anne’] 

‘Fairest of Fair’ ly 1982 [‘Sunbonnet’ X ‘Rise 'n' Shine’] 

‘Hot Shot’ or 1982 [‘Futura’ X ‘Orange Honey’] 

‘Rosy Dawn’ yb 1982 [‘Magic Carrousel’ X ‘Magic Carrousel’] 

The next giant that emerged from the group of amateur 

breeders was Harm Saville. Living and gardening 

in Gloucester, Massachusetts in 1965 his 

house, shared with his wife Chip, was surrounded by 

14 

a white picket fence that called out for a rambling 

rose to make the New England look complete! 

His first purchase of a miniature rose grew quickly 

into an obsession with his other hobbies taking a back 

seat. Harm constructed his first indoor growing system 

in his basement, complete with lights and misting capabilities. 

Once he mastered the propagation of 

miniature roses from cuttings, the obsession 

turned to hybridizing. By 1971 Harm Saville 

went completely commercial. He mailed his first 

catalog of varieties, mostly developed by Ernest 

Schwartz of Baltimore, Maryland, to 500 potential 

customers. His company, Nor’East Miniature Roses 

was born! Soon the greenhouses appeared on the 

property. Realizing the need for more space Harm 

and Chip moved to Rowley where he developed 18 

acres allowing him to erect seven doublepoly greenhouses 

for hybridizing. By 1975 he produced his 

first color catalog. No longer just content with growing 

and selling miniature roses, Harm ventured into 

breeding. This soft spoken man, often wry and always 

unassuming, went on to develop a long list of 

prize winning miniatures. 

Initially Harm Saville started off with a conventional 

approach using such well established parents as 

‘Sheri Anne’ and ‘Rise ‘n’ Shine’, both from 

Moore, which resulted in 1979 with a spectacular 

yellow blend miniature rose of exceptional form and 

grace, namely ‘Party Girl’. He was not to know that 

this variety would as seed parent in other hands 

(Bennett, Taylor, Williams, Laver Jolly, Bridges, etc.) 

yield a series of award winning cultivars. Saville only 

introduced two cultivars with ‘Party Girl’ as seed 

parent, ‘Winsome’ and ‘Glory Be’. And yet his persistent 

crossing with ‘Sheri Anne’, ‘Yellow Jewel’, and 

‘Rise ‘n’ Shine’ continued to be highly productive in 

his breeding program. In particular, the cross of 

‘Rise ‘n’ Shine’ with ‘Watercolor’, both by Moore, 

gave him in 1984 the well loved yellow blend 

‘Rainbow’s End’, still grown today all over the world. 

Whatever his guiding principles Saville has been the 

most successful at breeding exhibition type miniatures 

in the widest range of colors and blends. 

Two of Dee Bennett’s Later Creations 

‘Irresistible’ 1990 

^ ‘Luis Desamero’ ^ 

1990

Table 16. 

Miniature Roses bred by Harm Saville 

(1975-1997) 


‘Little Liza’ mp 1975 [‘Fairy Moss’ X ‘Fairy Moss’] 

‘Pearl Dawn’ mp 1975 [(‘Cécile Brunner’ X ‘Perla de Montserrat’) 

X ‘Perla de Montserrat’] 

‘Sizzler’ or 1975 [‘Sheri Anne’ X ‘Prominent’] 

‘First National Gold’ dy 1976 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Yellow Jewel’] 

‘September Days’ dy 1976 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Yellow Jewel’] 

‘Claret’ m 1977 [‘Little Chief’ X ‘Little Chief’] 

‘Baby Katie’ pb 1978 [‘Sheri Anne’ X ‘Watercolor’] 

‘Calico Doll’ (SAVadoll) ob 1979 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X 

‘Glenfiddich’] 

‘Party Girl’ yb 1979 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Sheri Anne’] 

‘Poker Chip’ rb 1979 [‘Sheri Anne’ X (‘Yellow Jewel’ X 

‘Tamango seedling’)] 

‘Summer Butter’ dy 1979 [‘Arthur Bell’ X ‘Yellow Jewel’] 

‘Hokey Pokey’ ab 1980 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Sheri Anne’] 

‘Red Ace’ mr 1980 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Sheri Anne’] 

‘Single Bliss’ pb 1980 [‘Seabreeze’ X ‘Baby Betsy 

McCall’] 

‘Valerie Jeanne’ (SAVaval) dp 1980 [‘Sheri Anne’ X ‘Tamango’] 

‘Center Gold’ (SAVacent) dy 1981 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X 

‘Kiskadee’] 

‘Jelly Bean’ (SAVabean) rb 1981 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Poker 

Chip’] ‘Lynn Anne’ ob 1981 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Sheri Anne’] 

‘Penny Candy’ (SAVplenti) ob 1981 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Sheri 

Anne’] 

‘Acey Deucy’ (SAVathree) mr 1982 [(‘Yellow Jewel’ X 

‘Tamango’) X ‘Sheri Anne’] 

‘Cornsilk’ (SAVasilk) ly 1982 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Sheri 

Anne’] 

‘Flying Colors’ (SAVapaint) rb 1982 [(‘Yellow Jewel’ X 

‘Tamango’) X ‘Sheri Anne’] 

‘Genevieve’ (SAVagen) yb 1982 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Seedling’] 

‘Heartland’ (SAVsay) op 1982 [‘Sheri Anne’ X ‘Watercolor’] 

‘Little Jackie’ (SAVor) ob 1982 [(‘Prominent’ X ‘Sheri 

Anne’) X ‘Glenfiddich’] 

‘Mark One’ (SAVamark) or 1982 [‘Sheri Anne’ X 

‘Glenfiddich’] 

‘Minnie Pearl’ (SAVahowdy) pb 1982 [(‘Little Darling’ X 

‘Tiki’) X ‘Party Girl’] 

‘Spice Drop’ (SAVasweet) op 1982 [(‘Sheri Anne’ X 

‘Glenfiddich’) X (‘Moss seedling’ X (‘Sarabande’ X ‘Little 

Chief)’)] 

‘Spice Drop’ (SAVsweet) op 1982 [(‘Sheri Anne’ X 

‘Glenfiddich’) X (‘Moss seedling’ X (‘Sarabande’ X ‘Little 

Chief)’)] 

‘Windjammer’ (SAVswat) dp 1982 [‘Sheri Anne’ X 

‘Watercolor’] 

‘Happy Hour’ (SAVanhour) mr 1983 [(‘Tamango’ X ‘Yellow 

Jewel’) X ‘Zinger’] 

15 

‘High Spirits’ (SAVaspir) mr 1983 [‘Sheri Anne’ X ‘Tamango’] 

‘Breezy’ (SAVabrez) ob 1984 [‘Sheri Anne’ X ‘Seedling’] 

‘Centerpiece’ (SAVapiece) mr 1984 [(‘Sheri Anne’ X ‘Tamango’) 

X (‘Sheri Anne’ X (‘Yellow Jewel’ X ‘Tamango)’)] 

‘Cheers’ (SAValot) ob 1984 [‘Poker Chip’ X ‘Zinger’] 

‘Julie Ann’ (SAVaweek) or 1984 [‘Zorina’ X ‘Poker Chip’] 

‘Rainbow's End’ (SAValife) yb 1984 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X 


‘Red Shadows’ (SAVmore) dr 1984 [‘Tamango’ X ‘Sheri Anne’] 

‘Scamp’ (SAVacamp) mr 1984 [‘Baby Katie’ X (‘Yellow Jewel’ 

X ‘Tamango’)] 

‘Total Recall’ (SAVacall) or 1984 [‘Zorina’ X ‘Baby Katie’] 

‘Winsome’ (SAVawin) m 1984 [‘Party Girl’ X ‘Shocking Blue’] 

‘Single's Better’ (SAVabet) mr 1985 [(‘Yellow Jewel’ X ‘Tamango’) 

X (‘(Little Chief’ X ‘Sarabande’) X ‘Lemon Delight’)] 

Editor’s Note: See next page for Harm Seville Roses 

Meanwhile in Canada, yet another giant of the 

miniature rose breeding world was making his presence 

known, Keith Laver. In 1980 he began his 

business in Caledon East, Ontario. Like his contemporaries 

(Bennett, Saville, etc.) Laver banked initially 

on a conventional approach using such established 

favorites as ‘Party Girl’, ‘Loving Touch’, and 

‘Rise ‘n’ Shine’. But it was the unexpected, supposedly 

serendipitous cross, of the Kordes hybrid tea, 

‘Helmut Schmidt’ with ‘Gold Mine’, one of his own 

creations out of ‘Rise ‘n’ Shine’, that gave birth to 

Laver’s most perfect rose and named for his wife, 

‘June Laver’. Continued breeding using ‘June Laver’ 

as seed parent yielded a long string of commercial 

successes, ‘Potluck Crimson’, ‘Striped Pert’, 

‘Springwood Purple’, ‘ Blue Ice’, ‘Potluck Pink’, 

‘Golden Promise’, ‘Yellow Bouquet’, and ‘Silken 

Laumann’. The impressive list of cultivars Laver 

has bred is impressive in the depth of color and his 

achieving his original goal of producing compact 

miniature plants for containers. 

Table 17. 

Miniature Roses bred by Keith Laver 

(1982-1990) 


‘Baby Face’ (LAVaby) lp 1982 [‘Popcorn’ X ‘Popcorn’] 

‘Blueblood’ (LAVblu) mr 1982 [‘Dwarfking '78' X 

‘Hokey Pokey’] 

‘Ice Princess’ (LAVice) lp 1983 [‘Unnamed pink seedling’ 

X ‘Lemon Delight’] 

‘Ontario Celebration’ (LAVmount)or 1983 [‘Nic-Noc’ X 

(‘Party Girl’ X ‘Queen of the Dwarfs’)] 

‘Gold Mine’ (LAVoro) dy 1984 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Yellow 

seedling’] 

‘LAVsho’ (LAVsho) lp 1984 [‘Mighty Mouse’ X ‘Fairy 

Rose’]

Top: ‘Behold’ 

Center: ‘Party Girl’ 

Bottom: ‘Minnie Pearl’ 

Roses by Harm Saville 

16

‘LAVsno’ (LAVsno) w 1984 [‘Ice Princess’ X ‘Sue 

Lawley’] 

‘Mountie’ (LAVacek) mr 1984 [‘Party Girl’ X 

‘Dwarfking '78’] 

‘Potluck’ (LAVpot) dr 1984 [‘Dwarfking '78' X ‘Little 

Liza’] 

‘Small Slam’ (LAVlinc) dr 1984 [‘Nic Noc’ X ‘Party 

Girl’] 

‘Sun Princess’ (LAVsun) lp 1984 [(‘Dwarfking '78' X 

‘Starina’) X ‘Lemon Delight’] 

‘Painted Doll’ (LAVpaint) ob 1985 [‘Party Girl’ X 

‘Dwarfking '78’] 

‘Potluck White’ (LAVwyte) w 1985 [‘Baby Katie’ X 

‘Mountie’] 

‘Potluck Yellow’ (LAVglo) my 1985 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X 

‘Lemon Delight’] 

‘Bonhomme’ (LAVhomme) w 1986 [‘Blueblood sport’] 

‘Sans Souci’ (LAVsans) dp 1986 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X 

‘Ontario Celebration’] 

‘Alexander Milne’ (LAVmilne) lp 1987 [‘Corn Silk’ X 

‘Ice Princess’] 

‘June Laver’ (LAVjune) dy 1987 [‘Helmut Schmidt’ X 

‘Gold Mine’] 

‘Potluck Cream’ (LAVcream) ly 1987 [‘Cornsilk’ X 

‘Unnamed seedling’] 

‘Springwood Coral’ (LAVscent) or 1987 [‘Helmut 

Schimdt’ X ‘PotluckTM’] 

‘Wilfrid H. Perron’ (LAVshrimp) mp 1987 [(‘Dwarfking 

'78' X ‘Baby Katie’) X ‘Painted Doll’] 

‘Crème Glacée’ (LAVcreme) ly 1988 [‘June Laver’ X 

‘Summer Butter’] 

‘Fair Genie’ (LAVmoth) pb 1988 [‘Breezy’ X ‘June 

Laver’] 

‘Platinum Lady’ (LAVplat) m 1988 [‘Seedling (lavender’) X 

‘Lavender Jade’] 

‘Potluck Red’ (LAVmin) dr 1988 [‘Breezy’ X ‘June 

Laver’] 

‘Springwood Red’ (LAVred) dr 1988 [‘Small Slam’ X 

‘Mountie’] 

‘Enjoy’ (LAVjoy) pb 1989 [(‘Moulin Rouge’ X 

‘Seedling’) X ‘Party Girl’] 

‘King Tut’ (LAVtrek) dy 1989 [‘June Laver’ X 

‘Genevieve’] 

‘LAValuck’ (LAValuck) dp 1989 [‘Blueblood’ X 

‘Julie Ann’] 

‘LAVamaze’ (LAVamaze) lp 1989 [‘Loving Touch’ X 

‘Potluck’] 

‘LAVbound’ (LAVbound) op 1989 [‘June Laver’ X 

‘Black Jade’] 

‘LAVlemo’ (LAVlemo) my 1989 [‘Dorola’ X 

‘Genevieve’] 

‘Potluck Orange’ (LAVjack) or 1989 [‘Julie Ann’ X 

‘PotluckTM’] 

17 

‘Snowbound’ (LAVaway) w 1989 [‘Tabris’ X ‘June 

Laver’] 

‘Springwood Gold’ (LAVtynine) my 1989 [‘Rise 'n' 

Shine’ X ‘June Laver’] 

‘Sweet Butterfly’ (LAVstar) m 1989 [(‘Dwarfking’ X 

‘Baby Katie’) X (‘Small Slam’ X ‘Mountie’)] 

‘Apricot Doll’ (LAVdoll) ab 1990 [‘Painted Doll’ X 

‘Painted Doll’] 

‘Pink Bouquet’ (LAVquest) lp 1990 [‘Loving Touch’ X 

‘Ontario Celebration’] 

‘Springwood Purple’ (LAVpurr) dp 1990 [‘June Laver’ X 

(‘Small Slam’ X ‘Mountie’)] 

Back in the United States, the spirit of breeding 

miniature roses was well and alive. In 1983 in 

Lawndale, North Carolina, Dennis and Suzy 

Bridges were starting a commercial nursery specializing 

in miniature roses. The initial introductions were 

mainly the outcome of using well established seed 

and pollen parents like ‘Sheri Anne’, ‘Watercolor’ 

and ‘Rise ‘n’ Shine’. By the late 1980s this dynamic 

duo was introducing some of the most desirable 

miniature roses on the market, varieties like pink 

blend ‘Kitty Hawk’, ‘Queen City’, ‘Cape Hatteras’, 

‘Pinehurst’, all named with a regional flavor honoring 

the State of North Carolina. An outstanding 

variety, a cross of ‘Party Girl’ with a seedling produced 

an AOE winner which Dennis named for his 

wife. ‘Suzy’. Dennis has continued his successes 

with such prize winners as the mauve ‘Incognito’ 

and ‘Moonlight and Roses’ rounding off the century 

with another AOE winner named for a close 

friend, ‘Doris Morgan’. 

Table 18. 

Miniature Roses bred by Dennis Bridges 


‘Summer Spice’ ab 1983 [‘Sheri Anne’ X ‘Unnamed seedling’] 

‘New Castle’ rb 1984 [‘Watercolor’ X ‘Unnamed seedling’] 

‘Yellow Mellow’ my 1984 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘?’] 

‘Crystal’ pb 1985 [‘Zinger’ X ‘Seedling’] 

‘Hope’ w 1985 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Party Girl’] 

‘Cameo Queen’ pb 1986 [‘Heartland’ X ‘Seedling’] 

‘Dinky’ or 1986 [‘Sheri Anne’ X ‘Seedling’] 

‘Dutch Miss’ pb 1986 [‘Summer Spice’ X ‘Seedling’] 

‘Kitty Hawk’ pb 1986 [‘Watercolor’ X ‘?’] 

‘Love Bug’ ob 1986 [‘Heartland’ X ‘Unnamed seedling’] 

‘Merriment’ yb 1986 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘?’] 

‘Munchkin’ pb 1986 [‘Watercolor’ X ‘Unnamed seedling’] 

‘Poco’ pb 1986 [‘Heartland’ X ‘Unnamed seedling’] 

‘Queen City’ ob 1986 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Unnamed seedling’] 

‘Spanky’ yb 1986 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘?’] 

‘Sugar Bear’ w 1986 [‘Heartland’ X ‘Unnamed seedling’] 

‘Biscay’ mp 1988 [‘Summer Spice’ X ‘Seedling’]

‘Cape Hatteras’ w 1988 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Seedling’] 

‘Glimmer’ rb 1988 [‘Party Girl’ X ‘Unnamed seedling’] 

‘Jaybo’ rb 1988 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Unnamed seedling’] 

‘Keely’ or 1988 [‘Party Girl’ X ‘Unnamed seedling’] 

‘New Hope’ w 1988 [‘Party Girl’ X ‘Unnamed seedling’] 

‘Orange Drop’ ob 1988 [‘Heartland’ X ‘Unnamed seedling’] 

‘Pinehurst’ pb 1988 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Unnamed seedling’] 

‘Pink Honey’ mp 1988 [‘Summer Spice’ X ‘Unnamed seedling’] 

‘Smoky Mountain’ m 1988 [‘Black Jade’ X ‘Unnamed seedling’] 

‘Southern Spring’ m 1988 [‘Twilight Trail’ X ‘Unnamed seedling’] 

‘Linville’ w 1989 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Seedling’] 

‘Martone’ pb 1989 [‘Queen City’ X ‘Unknown seedling’] 

‘Suzy’ (BRIsuzy) mp 1990 [‘Party Girl’ X ‘Unknown seedling’] 

‘Gabriel's Fire’ (BRIfire) rb 1991 [‘Sachet’ X ‘Unknown’] 

‘Gauntlet’ (BRIgaunt) dr 1991 [‘Kitty Hawk’ X ‘Unnamed seedling’] 

‘Dixieland’ (BRIdixie) rb 1992 [‘Fancy Pants’ X ‘Seedling’] 

‘Southern Charm’ (BRIcharm) yb 1992 [‘Baby Katie’ X ‘Unknown 

(select pollen’)] 

‘Manteo’ (BRIman) mp 1993 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Seedling’] 

‘Summer Sunset’ (BRIsun) yb 1993 [‘Fancy Pants’ X ‘Seedling’] 

‘Whitney’ (BRIney) w 1994 [‘Jennifer’ X ‘Unknown’] 

‘Incognito’ (BRIincog) m 1995 [‘Jean Kenneally’ X ‘Twilight Trail’] 

‘Trickster’ (BRItrick) rb 1995 [‘Jennifer’ X ‘Red Beauty’] 

‘Hearts A'Fire’ (BRIheart) dr 1996 [‘Merrimac’ X ‘Seedling’] 

‘Forever Young’ (BRIyoung) pb 1997 [‘Trickster’ X ‘Select Pollen’] 

‘Moonlight and Roses’ (BRIrose) m 1998 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Select pollen’] 

‘Sis’ (BRIsis) w 1998 [‘Party Girl’ X ‘Cape Hatteras’] 

‘Autumn Dawn’ (BRIautumn) op 1999 [‘Carrot Top’ X ‘Unknown’] 

‘Chit Chat’ (BRIchat) my 1999 [‘Cal Poly’ X ‘Unknown’] 

‘Best Friends’ (BRIfriends) ob 2001 [‘Hot Tamale’ X ‘select pollen’] 

‘Breath of Spring’ (BRIspring) my 2001 [‘Summer Sunset’ X 

‘select pollen’ X ‘select pollen’] 

‘Doris Morgan’ (BRImorgan) dp 2002 [‘Jennifer’ X ‘select pollen’] 

‘Flip Flop’ (BRIflip) mp 2003 [‘sport of Ace of Diamonds’] 

‘King's Mountain’ (BRIking) dy 2004 [‘Doris Morgan’ X ‘select 

pollen’ 

Editor’s Note: Dennis Bridges Roses on next page 

In the great State of Maryland, nestled on the 

edge of the Chesapeake Bay, the Jolly family 

(Betty, Marie and Nelson) started a commercial 

nursery in 1979. The efforts of Betty Jolly were rewarded 

in 1982 when she introduced a perfect white 

miniature appropriately called ‘Snow Bride’. The 

strategy of selecting parents were mainly derived from 

the breeding lines of Ralph Moore, Harm Saville and 

others using ‘Rise ‘n’ Shine’, Watercolor’, and 

‘Loving Touch’. Their contributions, however, were 

clear evidence that the palette of colors and forms could 

be expanded greatly upon using well established 

parents. 

18 

Table 19. 

Miniature Roses bred by Betty Jolly 


‘Chattem Centennial’ or 1979 [‘Orange Sensation’ X ‘Zinger’] 

‘Choo-Choo Centennial’ lp 1980 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Grand Opera’] 

‘Choo-Choo's Baby’ rb 1980 [‘Watercolor’ X ‘Watercolor seedling’] 

‘Deep Velvet’ dr 1981 [(‘Grand Opera’ X ‘Jimmy Greaves’) X 

‘Baby Katie’] 

‘Dreamboat’ my 1981 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Grand Opera’] 

‘Funny Face’ rb 1981 [‘Avandel’ X ‘Zinger’] 

‘Little Rascal’ mr 1981 [‘Sheri Anne’ X ‘Rise 'n' Shine’] 

‘Shady Flame’ or 1981 [‘Prominent’ X ‘Zinger’] 

‘Shady Lady’ dy 1981 [(‘Prominent’ X ‘Zinger’) X ‘Puppy Love’] 

‘Beautiful Doll’ mp 1982 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Zinger’] 

‘Pretty Baby’ pb 1982 [‘Baby Katie’ X ‘Unnamed Miniature seedling’] 

‘Snow Bride’ w 1982 [‘Avandel’ X ‘Zinger’] 

‘Barbara Joyce’ mr 1999 [‘Miss Dovey’ X ‘Kristin’] 

‘Irene's Beauty’ yb 1999 [‘Little Darling’ X ‘Kristin’] 

‘Morning Glow’ ly 1999 [‘Tidewater’ X ‘Kristin’] 

‘Summer Evening’ ob 1999 [‘Tennessee’ X ‘Kristin’] 

Editor’s Note: Betty Jolly ‘Snow Bride’ on next page 

Table 20. 

Miniature Roses bred by Marie Jolly 


‘Amy Rebecca’ dy 1986 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Summer Butter’] 

‘Cheré Michelle’ op 1986 [‘Sheri Anne’ X ‘Anita Charles’] 

‘Impulse’ op 1986 [‘Red Ace’ X ‘Chris Jolly’] 

‘Leigh Ann’ pb 1986 [‘Poker Chip’ X ‘Rise 'n' Shine’] 

‘Small Virtue’ w 1986 [‘Party Girl’ X ‘Snow Bride’] 

‘Temper Tantrum’ dr 1986 [‘Red Beauty’ X ‘Libby’] 

‘Timothy Berlen’ ob 1986 [‘Anita Charles’ X ‘Poker Chip’] 

‘Tipper’ (JOLtip) mp 1987 [‘Chris Jolly’ X ‘Chattem Centennial’] 

‘Fancy That’ pb 1989 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Rainbow's End’] 

‘Lady Kathryn’ m 1989 [‘Lavender Jade’ X ‘Angel Face’] 

‘Lavendale’ m 1989 [‘Lavender Jade’ X ‘Angel Face’] 

‘Summer Magic’ op 1989 [‘Fashion Flame’ X ‘Anita Charles’] 

‘Chattem Centennial, Climbing’ or 1990 [‘Chattem Centennial sport’] 

‘Patchwork Quilt’ ob 1990 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Dandy Lyon’] 

‘Pink Rhythm’ op 1990 [‘Party Girl’ X ‘Fashion Flame’] 

‘Afternoon Delight’ (JOLaft) mp 1991 [‘Party Girl’ X ‘Fashion Flame’] 

‘Cherry Bomb’ (JOLcher) ob 1991 [‘Fashion Flame’ X ‘Sheri Anne’] 

‘Color Guard’ (JOLcol) mp 1991 [‘Anita Charles’ X ‘Poker Chip’] 

‘Genesis’ m 1991 [‘Lavender Jade’ X ‘Angel Face’] 

‘Pizzazz’ rb 1991 [‘Orange Honey’ X ‘Loving Touch’] 

‘Sonata in Pink’ (JOLson) pb 1991 [‘Chris Jolly’ X ‘Chattem 

Centennial’]

‘Incognito’ by Dennis Bridges 

‘Fairhope’ by Pete and Kay Taylor 

19 

‘Snow Bride’ by Betty Jolly

Table 20 continued— 

‘Sir’ (JOLsir) ab 1992 [‘Olympic Gold’ X ‘Rise 'n' 

Shine’] 

Table 21. 

Miniature Roses bred by Nelson Jolly 


‘Hombre’ pb 1983 [‘Humdinger’ X ‘Rise 'n' Shine’] 

‘Loving Touch’ ab 1983 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘First Prize’] 

‘Olympic Gold’ ly 1983 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Bonny’] 

‘Pink Triumph’ mp 1983 [‘Operetta’ X ‘Bonny’] 

‘Chesapeake’ lp 1984 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X (‘Helen Traubel’ X 

‘First Prize’)] 

‘Sweet Raspberry’ dp 1984 [‘Little Rascal’ X ‘Cinderella’] 

‘Swinger’ my 1984 [‘Anita Charles’ X ‘Orange Honey’] 

‘Arizona Sunset’ yb 1985 [(‘Orange Sweetheart’ X ‘Zinger’) X 

‘Party Girl’] 

‘Proud Heritage’ dr 1986 [‘Red Beauty’ X ‘Big John’] 

‘Susan Noel’ ab 1986 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Orange Honey’] 

‘Déjà Vous’ ab 1987 [‘Anita Charles’ X ‘Sheri Anne’] 

‘Touchdown’ mr 1988 [‘Sheri Anne’ X ‘Anita Charles’] 

‘Regal Lady’ pb 1989 [‘Sassy Lassie’ X ‘First Prize’] 

‘Scarlet Lady’ mr 1990 [‘Anita Charles’ X ‘Chris Jolly’] 

In the great State of Alabama, in a tiny hamlet called 

Fairhope, Pete and Kay Taylor started out a backyard 

business and began hybridizing with a passion. 

Within a few years they had a stable of winners like 

the pristine white ‘Fairhope’, the cherry red 

‘Chelsea Belle’ named for their dearly departed 

cocker spaniel, and ‘Fat Tuesday’ to honor Mardi 

Gras in neighboring New Orleans. Their success 

had been based upon a hunch that mauve hybrid 

tea ‘Azure Sea’ would make a great seed parent, and 

so it did. Later on they used ‘Party Girl’ as seed parent 

and produced a long line of exquisitely formed 

miniatures like the white blend ‘Ina’, the orange 

pink ‘Mobile Jubilee’, the pink blend ‘Silverhill’, and 

yellow blend ‘Louisiana Lady’. However, ‘Fairhope’ 

was their very best introduction! 

Table 22. 

Miniature Roses bred by Pete & Kay Taylor 

(1989-1996) 


‘Fairhope’ (TALfairhope) ly 1989 [‘Azure Sea’ X ‘Seedling’] 

‘Heather Leigh’ (TALheather) mp 1989 [‘Azure Sea’ X ‘Unnamed 

Miniature seedling’] 

‘Maids of Jubilee’ (TALmaid) pb 1989 [‘Azure Sea’ X 


‘Alfie Luv’ (TALalf) op 1991 [‘Azure Sea’ X ‘Seedling’] 

‘Alice Lee’ (TALali) pb 1991 [‘Azure Sea’ X ‘Seedling’] 

20 

‘Chelsea Belle’ (TALchelsea) mr 1991 [‘Azure Sea’ X ‘Party Girl’ 

‘Dora Delle’ (TALdor) pb 1991 [‘Azure Sea’ X ‘Jean Kenneally’] 

‘Fat Tuesday’ (TALfat) m 1991 [‘Azure Sea’ X ‘Lavender 

Jewel’] 

‘Gulf Breeze’ (TALgul) pb 1991 [‘Baby Katie’ X ‘Poker 

Chip’] 

‘Jubilee Sunset’ (TALjub) ob 1991 [‘Baby Katie’ X ‘Poker 

Chip’] 

‘Kev’ (TALkev) dy 1991 [‘Azure Sea’ X ‘Party Girl’] 

‘Lazy Daze’ (TALdaz) m 1991 [‘Azure Sea’ X ‘Seedling’] 

‘Mary Edith’ (TALmar) w 1991 [‘Azure Sea’ X 


‘Point Clear’ (TALpoi) w 1991 [‘Azure Sea’ X ‘Party 

Girl’] 

‘Rum Butter’ (TALrum) ab 1991 [‘Azure Sea’ X 


‘Summer Breeze’ (TALsum) op 1991 [‘Baby Katie’ X ‘Poker Chip’] 

‘Summerdale’ (TALdal) dy 1991 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Seedling’] 

‘Uptown’ (TALuptown) m 1991 [‘Azure Sea’ X ‘Party Girl’] 

‘Dreamsicle’ (TALdre) ob 1992 [‘Poker Chip’ X ‘Party 

Girl’] 

‘Good Day Sunshine’ (TALgoo) dy 1992 [‘Party Girl’ X ‘Elina’] 

‘Jumping Jack Flash’ (TALjum) yb 1992 [‘Party Girl’ X ‘Poker Chip’] 

‘Penny Lane’ (TALpen) lp 1992 [‘Party Girl’ X ‘Maids of Jubilee’] 

‘Sue Belle’ (TALsue) ob 1992 [‘Party Girl’ X ‘Poker Chip’] 

‘Wildest Dreams’ (TALwil) yb 1992 [‘Poker Chip’ X 

‘Unknown’] 

‘Berry Berry Red’ (TALber) mr 1993 [‘Party Girl’ X ‘Papa Meilland’] 

‘Bloomtown’ (TALblo) pb 1993 [‘Party Girl’ X ‘Andrea’] 

‘Cajun Dancer’ (TALcaj) rb 1993 [‘Party Girl’ X 

‘Unknown’] 

‘Cajun Spice’ (TALspi) ob 1993 [‘Party Girl’ X ‘Baby Diana’] 

‘Endeavour’ (TALend) ab 1993 [‘Party Girl’ X ‘Azure Sea’] 

‘Katy Lampkin’ (TALkat) mp 1993 [‘Winsome’ X ‘Admiral Rodney’] 

‘Mary Margaret’ (TALmag) op 1993 [‘Party Girl’ X ‘Watercolor’] 

‘Midnight Rambler’ (TALmid) rb 1993 [‘Party Girl’ X 

‘Andrea’] ‘Ina’ (TALina) w 1994 [‘Party Girl’ X ‘Fairhope’] 

‘Mobile Jubilee’ (TALmobile) op 1994 [‘Party Girl’ X ‘Gitte’] 

‘Montrose’ (TALmontrose) mp 1994 [‘Party Girl’ X 

‘Andrea’] 

‘Sunny Afternoon’ (TALsun) yb 1995 [‘Party Girl’ X 

‘Elina’] 

‘Sweet Home Alabama’ (TALsweet)pb 1995 [‘Party Girl’ X 

‘Azure Sea’] 

‘Father Christmas’ (TALchris) rb 1996 [‘Party Girl’ X 


‘Flora Bama’ (TALflora) rb 1996 [‘Party Girl’ X ‘Poker 

Chip’] 

‘Honky Tonk’ (TALhon) rb 1996 [‘Party Girl’ X ‘Seedling’]

While all these amateurs were experimenting with 

miniature roses, professionals like William Warriner 

of Jackson & Perkins, famous for his wide range of 

floribundas, was also active in miniature rose breeding. 

Indeed, not to be surpassed Warriner produced a 

large range of miniature roses for introduction 

between 1981 up to his death in 1991. Warriner departed 

from the choice of well established parents and 

employed many of his gorgeous floribundas as seed 

parents. His work was continued by his successors 

at Jackson & Perkins, John Walden and Dr. Keith 

Zary. Worthy of note is the success achieved by 

Walden in creating several prizewinners such as 

‘Tropical Twist’ and ‘Lemon Gems’ and Zary with AOE 

winner ‘Jingle Bells’. 

Table 23. 

Miniature Roses bred by William A. Warriner 


‘Bojangles’ (JACsun) dy 1981 [‘Spanish Sun’ X 

‘Calgold’] 

‘Gumdrop’ (JACgum) dr 1981 [(‘San Fernando’ X 

‘Bridal Pink’) X (‘Fire Princess’ X ‘Mary DeVor’)] 

‘Petticoat’ (JACpet) w 1981 [‘Bon Bon’ X 

‘Lemon Delight’] 

‘Razzmatazz’ (JACmat) or 1981 [‘Zorina’ X ‘Fire 

Princess’] 

‘Caribe’ (JACibe) ab 1982 [‘Bridal Pink’ X ‘Fire 

Princess’] 

‘Cloud Nine’ (JAClite) w 1982 [‘Bon Bon’ X ‘Calgold’] 

‘Funny Girl’ (JACfun) lp 1982 [‘Bridal Pink’ X ‘Fire 

Princess’] 

‘Cabaret’ (JACaret) dr 1983 [(‘Fire Princess’ X ‘Mary 

DeVor’) X (‘Seedling’ X ‘Caliente’)] 

‘Goldpoint’ (JACpo) my 1984 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X 

(‘Faberge’ X ‘Precilla’)] 

‘Smiles’ (JACsmi) my 1984 [‘Spanish Sun’ X ‘Calgold’] 

‘Soft Touch’ (JACouch) ab 1984 [‘Bridal Pink’ X ‘Fire 

Princess’] 

‘Upstart’ (JACup) mr 1984 [‘Merci’ X ‘Fire Princess’] 

‘Le Pink’ (JAClip) lp 1986 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Watercolor’] 

‘Confection’ (JACute) mp 1988 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Seedling’] 

‘Coral Sprite’ (JACoral) mp 1988 [‘Merci’ X ‘Party 

Girl’] 

‘Day Glow’ (JACrink) dp 1988 [‘Petticoat’ X 

‘Red Jewel’] 

‘Little Sizzler’ (JACiat) mr 1988 [‘Seedling’ X 

‘Funny Girl’] 

‘Shy Girl’ (JACwhim) w 1988 [‘Petticoat’ X ‘Red 

Minimo’] 

‘Sunsmile’ (JACmiy) my 1988 [‘Spanish Sun’ X 

‘Calgold’] 

‘Vixen’ (JACormin) or 1988 [‘Petticoat’ X ‘Red 

Minimo’] 

21 

‘Cartwheel’ (JACcart) rb 1989 [‘Libby’ X 


‘Miss Perfect’ (JACmiss) lp 1989 [‘Over the Rainbow’ X 

‘Lavender Lace’] 

‘Orange Blossom Special’ (JACmocl)ob 1989 [‘Zorina’ X 

‘Andrea’] 

‘Sunsplash’ (JACyim) dy 1989 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Sun 

Flare’] 

‘Tiny Bubbles’ (JACbub) w 1989 [‘Zorina’ X 

‘Funny Girl’] 

‘Blizzard’ (JACdrift) w 1991 [‘Petticoat’ X 

‘Orange Honey’] 

‘Miss Daisy’ (JACflare) dy 1991 [‘Seedling’ X 

‘Sun Flare’] 

‘Plum Dandy’ (JACliang) m 1991 [‘Seedling’ X 

‘Angel Face’] 

‘Pride 'n' Joy’ (JACmo) ob 1991 [‘Chattem Centennial’ X 

‘Prominent’] 

‘Jitterbug’ (JACminno) ob 1992 [‘Caribe’ X ‘Impatient’] 

‘Small Miracle’ (JACimin) w 1993 [‘Libby’ X ‘Sun Flare’] 

‘Suzy Q’ (JAChill) mp 1991 [‘Rose Hills Red’ X ‘Baby 

Ophelia’] 

‘Happy Trails’ (JACcasp) pb 1992 [‘Immensee’ X ‘Roller 

Coaster’] 

‘Snow Shower’ (JACwade) w 1992 [‘Immensee’ X 

‘Roller Coaster’] 

Table 24. 

Miniature Roses bred by John Walden 


‘Barbie’ (JACmobli) mp 1998 [(‘Seedling’ X ‘Watercolor’) 

X ‘Red Minimo’] 

‘Little Flame’ (JACnuye) ob 1998 [‘New Year’ X 


‘Tropical Twist’ (JACorca) op 1998 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Pink 

Pollyanna’] 

‘Bedazzled’ (JAChotta) dp 1999 [‘Hot Tamale sport’] 

‘Crackling Fire’ (JACorg) ob 1999 [‘seedling’ X 

‘Rainbow's End’] 

‘Hugs 'n' Kisses’ (JACiraps) pb 1999 [‘Small Miracle’ X 


‘Lemon Gems’ (JACmiryl) my 1999 [‘seedling’ X ‘Small 

Miracle’] 

‘Petite Perfection’ (JACrybi) rb 1999 [‘seedling’ X 


‘Sun Sprinkles’ (JAChal) dy 1999 [‘Yellow Jacket’ X 


‘Very Cherry’ (JACrenew) mr 1999 [‘seedling’ X 

‘New Year’]

Table 25. 

Miniature Roses bred by Keith Zary 


‘Paper Doll’ (JACfiseg) ab 1992 [‘Fiddler's Gold’ X 

‘Sequoia Gold’] 

‘Bunny Hop’ (JACclip) mp 1993 [‘Pink Pollyanna’ X 


‘Bees Knees’ (JACkee) yb 1998 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Haute 

Pink’] 

‘Jingle Bells’ (JACredem) dr 1998 [‘Seedling’ X 


Table 26. 

Top: ‘Bees Knees’ 

1998 

Bottom: ‘Hot Tamale’ 

1993 

Among the other professional rose breeders, Jack 

Christensen while still at Armstrong Roses initiated 

his miniature breeding program in 1978 producing a 

string of commercial successes. In 1978 Christensen 

introduced several outstanding varieties of the day, 

like ‘Criket’, ‘Hiedi’ and an AOE winner, ‘Holy 

Toledo’. He continued his breading program using 

several floribundas and hybrid teas known for 

their classical form. In 1982 a stunning light pink 

miniature was named to honor ‘Helen Boehm’ as 

the variety did resemble the famous porcelain. 

Miniature Roses bred by Jack Christensen 


‘Cricket’ (AROket) ob 1978 [‘Anytime’ X ‘Katherine 

Loker’] 

22 

‘Heidi’ (AROdi) mp 1978 [‘Fairy Moss’ X ‘Iceberg’] 

‘Holy Toledo’ (ARObri) ab 1978 [‘Gingersnap’ X ‘Magic Carrousel’] 

‘Honest Abe’ (AROn) dr 1978 [‘Fairy Moss’ X ‘Rubinette’] 

‘Hopscotch’ (AROyol) my 1979 [‘Gingersnap’ X ‘Magic Carrousel’ 

Foxy Lady’ (AROshrim) op 1980 [‘Gingersnap’ X ‘Magic Carrousel’] 

‘Little Red Devil’ (AROvidil) mr 1980 [‘Gingersnap’ X ‘Magic 

Carrousel’] 

‘Hotline’ (AROmikeh) mr 1981 [‘Honest Abe’ X ‘Trumpeter’] 

‘Sunspray’ (AROrasp) dy 1981 [‘Gingersnap’ X ‘Magic Carrousel’] 

‘Helen Boehm’ (AROprawn) lp 1982 [‘Foxy Lady’ X ‘Deep Purple’] 

‘Ferris Wheel’ (AROyumi) yb 1984 [‘Golden Angel’ X ‘Cricket’] 

‘Fool's Gold’ (AROgobi) ob 1984 [‘Cricket’ X ‘Dr. A.J. Verhage’] 

‘Tutti-Frutti’ (JACtutti) yb 1991 [‘Fool's Gold’ X ‘Pinstripe’] 

‘Charm Bracelet’ (JACfog) dy 1992 [‘Fool's Gold’ X ‘Seedling’] 

A colleague of Jack Christensen, while at Armstrong's 

pre-1985, was Tom Carruth, now Research 

Director at Weeks in California, who 

began his miniature breeding program in the late 

1980s and has produced some spectacular cultivars 

using very unconventional parents. However, he did 

depend upon several varieties from both Ralph Moore 

and Sam McGredy as pollen parents. In 2001 

‘Gizmo’ won “Golden Rose of Rose Hills”. 

Table 27. 

Miniature Roses bred by Tom Carruth 


‘Little Paradise’ (WEKlips) m 1 988 [‘Shocking Blue’ X ‘Helen Boehm’] 

‘Heartbreaker’ (WEKsybil) pb 1989 [‘Crystalline’ X ‘Magic Carrousel’] 

‘Peach Fuzz’ (WEKhelen) ab 1990 [‘Fairy Moss’ X ‘New Year’] 

‘Descanso Dream’ (WEKdesc) w 1995 [‘Origami’ X ‘Little Artist’] 

‘Gizmo’ (WEKcatlart) ob 1998 [‘Carrot Top’ X ‘Little Artist’] 

‘Lemon Drop’ (WEKyegi) my 1999 [‘Gingerbread Man’ X ‘seedling’] 

‘Space Odyssey’ (WEKsnacare) rb 1999 [‘Santa Claus’ X ‘Times 

Square’] 

‘Neon Cowboy’ (WEKemilcho) rb 2001 [‘Emily Louise’ X 

(‘Playboy’ X ‘Little Artist’)] 

‘Ruby Slippers’ (WEKsactrumi) mr 2004 [‘Santa Claus’ X 

(‘Trumpeter’ X ‘Red Minimo’)] 

Also active during the time from 1980-1990 was another 

exceptional amateur who went commercial, 

Gene King of Munroe, Louisiana. His breeding 

program produced such favorites as ‘Fancy Pants’, 

the single-petaled ‘Peggy T’, the well received light 

pink ‘Giggles’ (known for many years by its code 

name ‘Kingig’ and a rose strictly for exhibitors called 

‘Top Gun’. His choice of seed and pollen parents 

was a departure from the normal and involved several 

British bred floribundas and hybrid teas.

‘Gizmo’ 

Miniatures by Tom Carruth 

‘Heartbreaker’ 

‘Lemon Drop’ ‘Tiddly Winks’ 

Photos by Gene Sasse © 2006 to 2009 Used courtesy of Weeks Roses 

23

Table 28. 

Miniature Roses bred by Gene King 


‘Charlie’ (KINcha) mr 1984 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Big John’] 

‘Heartlight’ (KINheart) ob 1985 [‘Golden Slippers’ X ‘Rise 'n' 

Shine’] 

‘Joe-Joe’ (KINjoe) ob 1985 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Rise 'n' Shine’] 

‘Just Buddy’ (KINbud) ly 1985 [‘New Day’ X ‘Rise 'n' Shine’] 

‘Miss Dovey’ (KINdov) ab 1985 [‘Anne Harkness’ X ‘Rise 'n' 

Shine’] 

‘B. C.’ (KINbee) dr 1986 [‘Evelyn Fison’ X ‘Magic Mist’] 

‘Buffy’ (KINbuff) ab 1986 [‘Vera Dalton’ X ‘Party Girl’] 

‘Fancy Pants’ (KINfancy) rb 1986 [‘Baby Katie’ X ‘Rose Window’] 

‘Jennie Anne’ (KINjen) rb 1986 [‘Gingersnap’ X ‘Charmglo’] 

‘My Pleasure’ (KINpleas) pb 1986 [‘Lavender Pinocchio’ X 


‘My Pleasure’ (KINplease) pb 1986 [‘Lavender Pinocchio’ X 


‘Prairie Schooner’ (KINschoon) rb 1986 [‘Vera Dalton’ X ‘Sheri Anne’] 

‘Speechless’ (KINspeech) ob 1986 [‘Unnamed seedling’ X ‘Watercolor’] 

‘Stagecoach’ (KINcoach) op 1986 [‘Vera Dalton’ X ‘Orange Honey’] 

‘Tudelum’ (KINlum) dp 1986 [‘Baby Katie’ X ‘Watercolor’] 

‘Giggles’ (KINgig) mp 1987 [‘Vera Dalton’ X ‘Rose Window’] 

‘J. Michael’ (KINmike) or 1987 [‘Poker Chip’ X 


‘New Orleans’ (KINnor) mr 1987 [‘Evelyn Fison’ X ‘Magic 

Mist’] 

‘Peggy "T"’ (KINtee) mr 1988 [‘Poker Chip’ X ‘Rise 'n' 

Shine’] 

‘Rosa Belle’ (KINbelle) dp 1988 [‘Vera Dalton’ X ‘Party Girl’] 

‘Tennessee’ (KINtenn) op 1988 [‘Kiskadee’ X ‘Orange 

Honey’] 

‘Glowry’ (KINglow) ob 1989 [(‘Arthur Bell’ X ‘Orange Honey’) 

X ‘Baby Diana’] 

‘Hoddy Toddy’ (KINtoddy) dr 1989 [(‘Alain’ X ‘Scamp’) X ‘Scamp’] 

‘Merrimac’ (KINmac) dr 1989 [(‘Alain’ X ‘Scamp’) X ‘Lilli Marleen’] 

‘Mollie Claire’ (KINclaire) w 1989 [(‘Evelyn Fison’ X ‘Magic Mist’) 


‘Tampa Bay’ (KINbay) ob 1989 [(‘Arthur Bell’ X ‘Orange Honey’) 


‘Tobo’ (KINbo) dy 1989 [‘Arthur Bell’ X ‘Rise 'n' Shine’] 

In Cross Hill, South Carolina a mild mannered 

gentleman, Michael Williams, started his business 

adventure in 1986 with several miniatures derived 

from the genetic legacies of Ralph Moore and Harm 

Saville. In particular, Michael Williams won coveted 

AOE awards with deep pink ‘Debidue’ in 1992 and 

the red blend ‘Sweet Caroline’ in 1999. In addition, 

he has provided an explosion of color in his latest 

creations - ‘Odessa’, ‘Mini Tango’, and ‘Tangerine 

Twist’. 

24 

‘Fancy Pants’ 

By Gene King 

Table 29. 

Miniature Roses bred by Michael Williams 


‘Kimberly’ (MICkim) ab 1986 [‘Party Girl’ X ‘Sheri 

Anne’] 

‘Lander Gold’ (MICgold) my 1986 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X 

‘Little Jackie’] 

‘Sox’ (MICsox) rb 1986 [‘Baby Katie’ X ‘Angel Darling’] 

‘Mini Magic’ (MICmag) rb 1988 [‘Baby Katie sport’ X 

‘Watercolor.’] 

‘Mini Magic’ (MICmagic) rb 1988 [‘Baby Katie sport’ X 

‘Watercolor.’] 

‘Surfside’ (MICsurf) pb 1988 [‘Tiki’ X ‘Party Girl’] 

‘Bill Cone’ (MICone) mr 1989 [‘Heartland’ X ‘Anita 

Charles’] 

‘Carolina Morning’ (MICam) rb 1989 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X 


‘Carolina Morning’ (MICar) rb 1989 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X 


‘Evening Shadows’ (MICeven) pb 1989 [‘Tiki’ X 


‘Home-Coming’ (MIChome) mp 1989 [‘Tiki’ X 


‘Shady Charmer’ (MICshade) yb 1989 [‘Party Girl’ X 

‘Anita Charles’] 

‘Shady Charmer’ (MICshady) yb 1989 [‘Party Girl’ X ‘Anita 

Charles’] 

‘Virginia Lee’ (MIClee) yb 1989 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Baby 

Katie’] 

With all the flurry of activity in the United States, 

Chris Warner of England was determined to contribute 

to this explosion of miniature rose breeding by 

experimenting with his own brand of hybridizing. He 

initially introduced and bred with the red blend 

Harkness shrub ‘Marjorie Fair’ crossed with the 

Japanese climbing miniature ‘Nozomi’. However 

his creation of the medium yellow patio rose ‘Laurie 

Ford’ opened the door to an extensive breeding program 

to extract many of the desirable traits of this 

lovely rose. His major contribution to miniature 

rose breeding has been the introduction of the necessary 

genes to carry climbing characteristics into the 

mainstream of breeding.

Table 30. 

Miniature Roses bred by Chris Warner 


‘Laura Ashley’ (CHEwharla) m 1989 [‘Marjorie Fair’ X ‘Nozomi’] 

‘Laura Ford’ (CHEwarvel) my 1989 [‘Anna Ford’ X ‘[Elizabeth of 

Glamis’ X (‘Galway Bay’ X ‘Sutter's Gold)]’] 

‘Nice Day’ (CHEwsea) op 1992 [‘Seaspray’ X ‘Warm Welcome’] 

‘Rosalie Coral’ (CHEwallop) ob 1992 [[‘Elizabeth of Glamis’ X 

(‘Galway Bay’ X ‘Sutter's Gold’)] X ‘Anna Ford’] 

‘Warm Welcome’ (CHEwizz) or 1992 [[‘Elizabeth of Glamis’ X 

(‘Galway Bay’ X ‘Sutter's Gold’)] X ‘Anna Ford’] 

‘Good as Gold’ (CHEwsunbeam) dy 1994 [‘Anne Harkness’ X ‘Laura 

Ford’] 

‘Little Rambler’ (CHEwramb) lp 1994 [(‘Cecile Brunner’ X ‘Baby 

Faurax’) X (‘Marjorie Fair’ X ‘Nozomi’)] 

‘Golden Handshake’ (CHEwsunford)dy 1996 [‘Pam Ayres’ X ‘Laura 

Ford’] 

‘Society Special’ (CHEwsos) ob 1996 [‘Laura Ford’ X ‘Anne Harkness’] 

‘Gloriana 97’ (CHEwpope) m 1997 [‘Laura Ford’ X ‘Big Purple’] 

‘Peter Pan’ (CHEwpan) mr 1997 [‘Eyeopener’ X ‘Seedling’] 

‘Love Knot’ (CHEwglorious) mr 1999 [‘Laura Ford’ X ‘Ingrid 

Bergman’] 

‘Star Performer’ (CHEwpearl) mp 1999 [‘Laura Ford’ X 

‘Congratulations’] 

‘Bright Day’ (CHEwvermillion) mr 2002 [‘Laura Ford’ X ‘Royal Baby’] 

‘Summertime’ (CHEwlarmoll) ly 2004 [‘Laura Ford’ X ‘Golden 

Future’] 

No discussion of miniature roses would be complete 

without recognizing the body of work from Sean 

McCann of Dublin, Ireland. Since 1981 he has demonstrated 

his love of these roses both through his 

writings and his breeding of miniature roses. His 

recognition that the Moore medium yellow miniature 

‘Rise ‘n’ Shine’ was a jewel in the genetic 

crown of any breeding program, Sean began to extract 

a long line of attractive roses introduced into 

America through Justice Miniatures of Wilsonville, 

Oregon. Throughout the ensuing decades he 

has managed to introduce almost 20 varieties which 

have ‘Rise ‘n’ Shine’ as seed parent. His attention to 

naming his various roses has drawn a great deal of 

attention and his romantic Irish humor is amplified 

by these choices. Of particular interest is the rose 

named ‘Lady in Red’ and his admirers have long 

pondered who is this rose named for. He has brought 

a romancist atmosphere into the hobby and for that 

we should be most thankful. 

25 

Table 31. 

Miniature Roses bred by Sean McCann 


‘Little Breeze’ (Little Breeze) ob 1981 [‘Anytime’ X ‘Elizabeth of 

Glamis’] 

‘Blushing Groom’ (SEAgru) w 1983 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Karl 

Herbst’] 

‘Kiss 'n' Tell’ (SEAkiss) ab 1985 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X (‘Sally Mac’ X ‘New 

Penny’)] 

‘You 'n' Me’ (SEAyou) w 1985 [‘Avandel’ X ‘Party Girl’] 

‘Gold Country’ (SEAgold) my 1987 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X (‘Rise 'n' 

Shine’ X ‘Casino’)] 

‘Kiss the Bride’ (SEAwhi) w 1987 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘White Bouquet’] 

‘Rich and Rare’ (SEArich) rb 1987 [(‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Siobhan’) 

X ‘Beauty Secret’] 

‘Crazy Dottie’ (SEAdot) ob 1988 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X (‘Sheri Anne’ X 

‘Picasso’)] 

‘In the Mood’ (SEAmood) yb 1988 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Unnamed 

seedling’] 

‘Lady in Red’ (SEAlady) rb 1988 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Siobhan’] 

‘Portland Dawn’ (SEAtip) pb 1988 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X (‘Copper Pot’ X 

‘Maxi’)] 

‘Swansong’ (SEAswan) w 1988 [(‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Party Girl’) X 

‘Margaret Merril’] 

‘Wit's End’ (SEAwit) rb 1988 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X 

‘Siobhan’] 

‘Lovers Only’ (SEAlove) rb 1989 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X 

‘Siobhan’] 

‘Ain't Misbehavin’ (SEAbla) dr 1990 [‘Oonagh’ X (‘Pot Black’ X ‘Black 

Jade’)] 

‘Irish Heartbreaker’ (SEAheart) rb 1990 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X 

(‘Oonagh’ X ‘Siobhan’)] 

‘Ladies' View’ (SEAview) yb 1990 [‘You 'n' Me’ X ‘Amber 

Queen’] 

‘Lady Be Good’ (SEAgood) mp 1990 [‘Kiss 'n' Tell’ X (‘Irish Mist’ X 

‘Matangi’)] 

‘Near You’ (SEAnear) w 1990 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X (‘Elina’ X ‘Royal 

Gold’)] 

‘Stolen Moment’ (SEAmom) m 1990 [‘Kiss 'n' Tell’ X (‘Aunty Dora’ X 

‘Charles de Gaulle’)]

Frank Benardella 

The Modern Day Picasso of the Miniature Rose World 

The surge in the popularity of miniature roses at the 

end of the 20 century brought so much beauty in 

every garden, public and private alike. Under the 

leadership of the acknowledged Father of Miniature 

Roses, Ralph Moore paved the way for F. Harmon 

Saville, Dee Bennett, Ernest Williams, and others to 

create their own versions of small and beautiful 

roses and how truly magnificent they were. Along 

came Frank Benardella who, in 1985 stunned the 

rose world by introducing two of his own creations, 

‘Jennifer’, a pink blend miniature that verges to light 

lavender and has a lovely fragrance, and ‘Black Jade’, 

the deepest and darkest rose yet with excellent form 

but that sometimes judges, and I have judged with 

some of them, had to resort to using a flashlight 

to confirm its pinpoint center. Not surprisingly, 

both roses won the coveted AOE ( Award 

of Excellence) award that year. 

Frank’s rise as a hybridizer was fast and furious. 

This can be attributed to his being an excellent 

rose exhibitor. He once related that he drove with 

his family from New Jersey all the way to Denver, 

Colorado to attend a national convention and rose 

show (a distance of nearly 2000 miles!), packing 

lots of roses on the back of his car and winning! 

Following his successes with ‘Jennifer’ and ‘Black 

Jade’, he came out next in 1988 with ‘Old Glory’, an 

orange-red mini with good exhibition form; 1989 with 

‘Jim Dandy’, red blend blooms with some good potential 

but sort of faded out quickly from the limelight. In 

1992 came the sensational ‘Figurine’, lovely light pink 

blooms that produces excellent form blossoms and 

fabulous sprays. ‘Kristin’ came next in 1993 and 

nothing but pure superlatives can describe this rose. 

In form, color, growth habit, ability to cycle fast 

and resistance to disease, this rose is topnotch. 

For the next 7 years, Frank laid low as a hybridizer. 

The reason, he moved from Old Tappan, 

New Jersey to Englishtown, same state. He 

built a new and fabulous home, erected state of the art 

Greenhouses and restarted his hybridizing program. 

Then in 2001, he introduced ‘Ruby’, a pure medium 

red mini, small but with good form and long 

lasting blooms. In 2002 came ‘Merlot’, another red 

but with light to silver reverse and in 2003, the vigorous 

and prolific ‘Baby Boomer’. This variety has 

excellent exhibition form, lovely medium pink 

blooms that stay pretty as it opens and ages. 

His latest seedling, ‘Picotee’, a red blend miniature, 

very similar in some ways to ‘Kristin’ is more prolific. 

26 

All these roses have earned the Big E Award which 

means that they have been tested across the country 

for two years prior to their introduction and found 

superior in their growth and performance. Frank 

have now accumulated 10 of these awards. 

Other varieties that Frank has introduced includes 

‘Lavander Jade’, ‘Pearl’, ‘Hilde’, ‘Tiny Tots’, ‘Jilly 

Jewel’, ‘Cina Berry, ‘Waltz’ and in honor of the 

Philadelphia ARS Convention last Fall, the 

miniflora, ‘Liberty Bell’. 

Table 32. 

Miniature Roses bred by Frank Benardella 


‘Black Jade’ (BENblack) dr 1985 [‘Sheri Anne’ X ‘Laguna’] 

‘Jennifer’ (BENjen) pb 1985 [‘Party Girl’ X ‘Laguna’] 

‘Gee Gee’ (BENgee) ly 1987 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Patricia’] 

‘Lavender Jade’ (BENalav) m 1987 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Laguna’] 

‘Radiant’ (BENrad) or 1987 [‘Sheri Anne’ X ‘Sheri Anne’] 

‘Rosie’ (BENros) pb 1987 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X (‘Sheri Anne’ X 

‘Laguna’)] 

‘Jim Dandy’ (BENjim) rb 1988 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Marina’] 

‘Old Glory’ (BENday) mr 1988 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X 

‘Harmonie’] ‘ 

‘Rosetime’ (BENtem) dr 1989 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Black 

Jade’] 

‘Figurine’ (BENfig) w 1991 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X ‘Laguna’] 

‘Kristin’ (BENmagic) rb 1992 [‘DICmickey’ X ‘Tinseltown’] 

‘Soroptimist International’ (BENstar) pb 1995 [‘Party Girl’ X ‘Rosie’] 

‘Merlot’ (BENfebu) rb 2001 [‘Figurine’ X ‘seedling’] 

‘Ruby’ (BENmjul) dr 2002 [‘Jennifer’ X ‘Kristin’] 

‘Baby Boomer’ (BENminn) mp 2003 [‘Ivory Beauty’ X ‘Kristin’] 

‘Jilly Jewel’ (BENmfig) pb 2003 [‘Figurine’ X ‘Kirsten’] 

‘Picotee’ (Benpico) rb 2003 [‘seedling’ X ‘Ruby’] 

‘Charmer’ (BENcharm) w 2004 [‘unknown’] 

‘Jilly Jewel’

Frank Benardella Miniatures Robbie Tucker Miniatures 

‘Kristin’ 

‘Baby Boomer’ 

‘Hilde’ — 1999 

27 

‘Arcanum’ — 2000 

‘Conundrum’ — 2002 MF 

‘Dancing Flame’

While the expansion of the number of miniature rose 

growers slowed down in the late 1980s in America, 

several new practitioners of the trade rose up to 

capture the imagination and creativity of their predecessors. 

In the mid 1990s in Nashville, Tennessee a 

relative young man made a great impact with his 

initial introduction, a deep red perfectly formed 

miniature called ‘Miss Flippins’ after his daughter. 

This variety took the exhibiting scene by 

storm and was soon winning on a regular basis at 

rose shows. Tucker had dared to use the elegant 

medium pink hybrid tea ‘Elizabeth Taylor’ as 

seed parent crossed with a Benardella masterpiece, 

‘Kristin’. While his initial efforts may have 

been planned as casual experiments, Robbie Tucker 

caught the hybridizing bug! Soon he erected greenhouses 

and was in the mail order nursery business! 

He continues to introduce top grade varieties but 

has recently introduced some wonderful mini floras. 

Table 33. 

Miniature Roses bred by Robbie Tucker 


‘Solar Flair’ (Solar Flair) rb 1996 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X 

‘Captivation’] 

‘Miss Flippins’ (TUCkflip) mr 1997 [‘Elizabeth Taylor’ X 

‘Kristin’] 

‘Little Tommy Tucker’ (TUCtommy)my 1998 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X 

‘Captivation’] 

‘Dancing Flame’ (TUCkflame) yb 2001 [‘Seedling’ X ‘Kristin’] 

‘Sublime’ (TUCsublime) rb 2003 [‘Unnamed Seedling’ X ‘Dancing 

Flame’] 

Editor’s Note: See previous page for Robbie Tucker Minis 

Photograph courtesy of Rosemania 

28 

Another newcomer to breeding miniature roses 

was George Mander of British Columbia, Canada. 

George captured the attention of the miniature 

rose buying public both here in the US and in 

the UK with his stunning bicolor ‘Glowing Amber’ 

based on the fellow Canadian Laver introduction 

‘June Laver’. 

Table 34. 

Miniature Roses bred by George Mander 


‘Purple Sunset’ (MANpursun) m 1992 [‘Rise 'n' Shine’ X 

‘MANpurple’] 

‘Rubies 'n' Pearl’ (MANrupearl) m 1992 [‘Rise 'n' 

Shine’ X ‘MANpurple’] 

‘Coral 'n' Gold’ (MANcoral) op 1995 [‘June Laver’ X 

‘Rubies 'n' Pearls’] 

‘Golden Beryl’ (MANberyl) yb 1995 [‘June Laver’ X ‘Rubies 'n' 

Pearls’] 

‘Golden Topas’ (MANtopas) dy 1995 [‘June Laver’ X 


‘Amber Sunset’ (MANamsun) ob 1996 [‘June Laver’ X 


‘Glowing Amber’ (MANglow) rb 1996 [‘June Laver’ X 


‘Glowing Petals’ (MANpetals) op 1996 [‘June Laver’ X 


‘Haleakala’ (MANhale) m 1996 [‘Rubies 'n' Pearls’ X ‘June 

Laver’] 

‘Orange Sunset’ (MANorsun) ob 1996 [‘June Laver’ X 


‘Amber Star’ (MANstar) ob 1999 [‘Glowing Amber sport’] 

Top: ‘Amber Star’ 

Bottom: ‘Glowing Amber’ 

The latest new-comer to the American amateurs 

is Mitchie Moe of Washington State. This demonstrative 

lady has entered the marketplace with a 

bang! Her introduction of the orange blend 

‘Mighty Moe’, a seedling from Bennett’s ‘Luis 

Desamero’, has gained a great deal of respect 

from the public and she has developed a short 

list of strong contenders in a short space of time.

Table 34. 

Miniature Roses bred by Mitchie Moe 


‘Alpha Moe’ (MOEalpha) ob 1998 [‘Pink Petticoat’ X ‘Seedling’] 

‘MOEjo-netsu’ (MOEjo-netsu) dp 1998 [‘Klima’ X ‘Seedling 

mauve’)] 

‘Mighty Moe’ (MOEmighty) ob 1999 [‘Luis Desamero’ X 


‘MOEanne’ (MOEanne) r 1999 [‘Fairhope’ X ‘Wistful’] 

‘MOEmarilyn’ (MOEmarilyn) ab 1999 [‘Sheri Anne’ X ‘Wistful’] 

‘Becky Adams’ (MOEbecky) m 2001 [‘Fairhope’ X ‘Wistful’] 

‘Crescent Moon’ (MOEcrescent) my 2001 [‘Klima’ X ‘Blue 

Peter’] 

‘Jo’ (MOEjo) op 2001 [‘Violet Mist’ X ‘mixed yellow pollen’] 

‘Ralph T’ (MOEralph) my 2001 [‘Klima’ X ‘Blue Peter’] 

‘Ichiro’ (MOEichiro) mr 2002 [‘Anne Hering’ X ‘Miss Flippins’] 

‘Moonlight Dreamer’ (MOEmoondream)m 2002 [‘Anne Hering’ X 

‘MIss Flippins’] 

‘Baldo’ (MOEbaldo) yb 2003 [‘Hot Tamale’ X ‘Elegant Beauty’] 

‘Smoking Gun’ (MOEsmoke) m 2003 [‘Vista’ X ‘Anne Hering’] 

Editor’s Note: See the article following for more information and 

photographic images on Mitchie Moe’s miniatures. 

Towards the end of the 20 century, the latest 

successful amateur to arrive on the miniature rose 

breeding scene is Jim Sproul of Bakersfield, California. 

In the short span of time he has been in operation 

Jim has introduced 2 AOE winners, a striped 

climbing miniature ‘Life Lines’, and a dusky deep 

red ‘This is The Day’. He is certainly a bright 

light on the immediate horizon. 

Table 36. 

Miniature Roses bred by Jim Sproul 


‘Crimson Promise’ (SPRingpromise)dr 1994 [‘Avandel’ X 

‘Chrysler Imperial’] 

‘Full Moon’ (SPRingmoon) ly 1994 [‘Avandel’ X ‘Olympiad’] 

‘Baby Claire’ pb 2001 [‘’] 

‘Rose Country’ lp 2001 [‘’] 

‘Grace Amazing’ (SPRograce) my 2003 [‘Singin' in the Rain’ X 

‘Fairhope’] 

‘Lil' Rebel’ (SPRorebel) mr 2003 [‘Anytime'’ X ‘'Santa Claus'’] 

‘Carolyn Elizabeth’ (SPRocarolyn)m 2004 [‘Chipmunk’ X 

‘Stainless Steel’] 

‘Heather Sproul’ (SPRoheather) mp 2004 [(‘Lynn Anderson’ X 

‘Tournament of Roses’) X ‘Hot Tamale’] 

‘Life Lines’ (SPRolife) or 2004 [‘Roller Coaster’ X ‘Hot Tamale’] 

29 

‘This Is The Day’ (SPRoday) r 2004 [‘Chipmunk’ X ‘Michel 

Cholet’] 

‘Lucky Lucy’ (MOElucky) m 2004 [‘Vista’ X ‘Elegant Beauty’] 

‘Yellow Sunblaze 2004’ (MEIskaille)my 2004 [‘Meineyta’ X 

‘Seedling’ X ‘SAVagood’] 

‘Whoop De Doo’ (MOEwhoop) rb 2004 [‘Olympic Gold’ X 

‘Finest Hour’] 

‘Life Lines’ 

The Birth of a New Classification 

“The Mini Flora” 

By the end of the 1980s the tumultuous breeding 

activities occurring in the United States had revealed 

a preponderance to produce many new cultivars 

with blooms and foliage much larger than miniatures 

but smaller than floribundas. American rose 

breeders had previously disregarded such larger 

blooms as too big to sell as miniatures. In Europe the 

breeders created the description of “patio rose” under 

which to sell these cultivars to the public. One 

American hybridizer, Ben Williams of Silver 

Springs in Maryland, however, had previously 

patented the name “Miniflora” (US Plant Patent 

4,360; Registered No. 1,061,468, March 15, 

1977) to describe the growing characteristics of 

a unique cross between two seedlings, (‘Circus’ X 

‘Sweet Repose’) as seed parent and (‘Little Darling’ 

X ‘Starina’) as the pollen parent. In that 

document Williams narrates the features as “low and 

compact habit of growth. It is best described as being a larger 

and stronger grower than the miniature rose and a 

smaller and more compact grower than the floribunda 

rose producing a small perfectly formed flower bud that 

opens to no more than one inch when fully open”. As 

early as 1982, in partnership with Star Roses of 

West Grove Pennsylvania, Williams proceeded 

to promote and market these wonderfully compact 

plants - an act largely ignored by the purists in the 

rose trade. 

The miniature rose exhibitors and breeders alike, 

recognizing these traits as perhaps a defined evolutionary 

step in the rose family, especially in light 

of their numbers turning up in breeding program 

across the country, decided to petition the ARS to 

establish a new classification to embrace these cultivars. 

Ben Williams was willing to relinquish the 

US Patent he held to the ARS to permit the use of 

the term “mini-flora” as the official class name. 

And so mini floras were accepted into the rose family 

tree! ********

“A Bright Future for the Mini-floras” 

By: Mitchie Moe 

I needed a new challenge after winning our 

share of rose show ribbons, trophies and 

awards. At one show we met a gentleman, 

the late Dr. Neil Adams who was displaying 

his seedlings and promoting amateur hybridizing 

as a fun way to continue working 

with roses after one tires of exhibiting! He 

was very enthusiastic in telling us how thrilling 

it was to not only create your own rose, 

but to have the opportunity for it to have 

those characteristics that we, as exhibitors, 

desire in a rose. He went on to say that one 

day we would find hybridizing as the challenging 

next step in our growing rose world 

by having some “babies” of our own. 

This challenge came true a short time later 

when a group of us met and formed the 

PNW Rose Hybridizers Group in 1993 under 

the guidance of Steve McCulloch, who at the 

time was the President of the International 

Plant Propagators Association along with 

the expertise of Dr Adams. As a group we 

started discussing the basics of hybridizing, 

selecting parents, traits and characteristics 

that we wanted to bring forward into our 

seedlings. The more we discussed, I could 

see that it was important to have a goal(s) to 

focus on and give me some direction in how 

to tackle this new challenge. 

I realized from exhibiting that I really loved 

to work with the miniatures. I also thought 

that with the limited space that we had at 

the time, it would be easier to grow miniature 

seedlings thus becoming an early goal. 

The first few years of my hybridizing were a 

disaster as my seeds were not mature and 

did not germinate, but after I found out 

what I was doing wrong I had some seedlings 

(my own babies!) that grew to maturity. 

What a thrill! 

A main goal was that any rose that I hy- 

30 

bridized had to be better than its parents 

and that it had exhibition qualities, so if it 

was lacking in those -- out it went! Another 

goal is that every hybridizer that I know has, 

is that of disease resistance. I know that we 

could use more varieties that exhibit well, 

and there will always be room for the different 

type roses as hybridizers are using all 

sizes and types of roses in their breeding 

programs. As a result, the miniature rose is 

larger now then when I first began to exhibit. 

It is a challenge for amateur hybridizers 

to come up with exhibition roses that 

have eye-catching colors or are different in 

some way. 

Challenges for which some well known hybridizers 

have been quoted include -- 

Eugene Boerner in his book Papa Floribunda 

“.... to presume to have made a masterpiece 

is just a little beyond the realm of 

reality. But aiming toward the dream rose is 

the incentive...” (Boerner 77). And as Gerd 

Krussmann writes in The Complete Book of 

Roses – “Hybridizers want roses that have 

vigorous growth, are fully petaled (at least 

30 to 35 petals), have disease-resistant foliage, 

stems long enough for cutting, a highpointed 

center, and most of all, fragrance”. 

(Krussman 164-165) As hybridizers listen to 

the top exhibitors these same characteristics 

are the most desirable and sought after . 

However, a lot of my “babies” were very 

small. At that time I didn’t know very 

much about micro-minis, so I was 

throwing them out, as they were not 

what I wanted. Needless to say, I didn’t 

have many seedlings that I could keep as 

long as I was crossing a miniature with a 

miniature. Then I got some advice from 

some of the “big guys” which was to use 

the larger roses as pollen parents so 

when those seedlings matured, they were

more of the typical miniature size. Reversing 

this pattern, i.e., large seed parent/mini 

pollen parent, I found I would 

get a number of seedlings that were a bit 

larger in both bloom and foliage – a mini 

-flora size. A mini-flora is not a new type 

rose as roses of this size have been in existence 

for some time, sometimes referred 

to as a patio rose or a sweetheart 

rose. As I gained experience and 

watched a seedling grow and bloom. It 

was often difficult to let it go, but if it 

lacked what I was looking for, it too went 

out. It is one of the most difficult tasks 

for the amateur hybridizer to do, but in 

the process I have learned more about 

the genetics of the rose. Not every seedling 

that I keep has to be of exhibition 

quality or be introducible, but it must 

have some potential to be used as either 

parent in further hybridizing efforts. 

Hybridizers have a lot of excellent large 

roses available to use as parents, and as 

a result we are seeing many mini-floras 

on the market. Some of the best miniatures 

that I have used as seed parents 

include; my favorite which is ‘Vista’, 

‘Olympic Gold’, and ‘Fairhope’. I have 

also used ‘Klima’ for the yellow. All of 

these have given me a lot of seeds per 

hip with a lot of hips making it to maturity, 

and have been very receptive to taking 

pollen from most every rose that I 

have used. ‘Vista’, a lovely mauve 

from Harm Saville, has ‘Shocking 

Blue®’, ‘Rainbow’s End’, ‘Rise ’n’ 

Shine’ and ‘Little Darling’ in its background 

all of which have proven to be 

superb parents. ‘Olympic Gold’, a light 

yellow from Nelson Jolly also has ‘Rise 

‘n’ Shine’ and ‘Little Darling’ in its parentage. 

‘Fairhope’, a light yellow from 

Pete & Kay Taylor, has several mauves in 

its background, including, ‘Blue Nile®’, 

‘Angel Face’, and ‘Sterling Silver’. ‘Luis 

31 

Desamero’, a light yellow from Dee Bennett, 

‘Finest Hour’, an orange blend from 

Michael Williams, ‘Klima’, also from 

Harm Saville, is a deep yellow that produced 

some good characteristics in its 

offspring for me as it has ‘Peace’, ‘Little 

Darling’, and R. wichuraiana in its background. 

This plant has given me ‘Scott’, 

a medium red mini climber that is never 

out of bloom during our growing season, 

very upright and vigorous growing to 

more than six feet tall. This is definitely 

a rose that has potential as it goes along 

with what Ralph Moore told me, and 

that is “First create the bush and then 

hang a face on it”. 

There are also a very large group of mini 

-floras available to use as parents. Some 

of those I have used as seed parents to 

get back to a more typical miniature size 

include, ‘Autumn Splendor’, ‘Madeline 

Spezzano’, ‘Overnight Scentsation’, 

‘Patriot’s Dream’, ‘Violet Mist’, ‘Yantai’, 

along with some of mine including two 

of my favorites; ‘Seattle Sunrise’, a cross 

of [(‘Pristine’ x ‘Selfridges’) x ‘Finest 

Hour’] and ‘Hot to Trot’, a cross of 

(‘Klima’ x ‘Freisinger Morgenrote’). 

Knowing of my own future hybridizing 

desires, I will be using many of the larger 

roses that have intriguing colors, form 

and growing characteristics that I would 

like to bring into my own seedlings. I 

will continue to work with the mauves 

and yellows, as I like the combinations 

that occur when using these two colors. 

One of my crosses from last year was 

(‘Love and Peace’ x ‘Blue Peter’). From 

that cross I found seven that were absolutely 

clean when many of the others had 

signs of powdery mildew. This really excited 

me! We could identify them from a 

distance by the clean foliage. They remained 

clean and outside until the 

weather started to turn cold, and when

we had the first frost, they were moved 

to the greenhouse. 

Of the seven plants, two are mauve, one 

is a pink blend and five are different 

shades of yellow. As I write this the 

seven remain very disease free in the 

greenhouse, with three showing very vigorous 

growth. New growth from every 

leaf axil, and lots of new basil breaks. I 

have taken cuttings of all of them, and 

will plant in the ground in the spring for 

further evaluation. At the present time, 

some of them appear to be of the miniflora 

size. 

So no doubt, I will have more mini-flora 

class seedlings in my own inventory to 

further my hybridizing goals. Minifloras 

are easy to grow and they exhibit 

well so it is easy to see why so many exhibitors 

grow and enjoy them. I had 

mentioned above that I used to discard 

the micros, but in recent years I have 

had some requests from arrangement 

exhibitors for more micros that have exhibition 

form. There are a few growing 

in the greenhouse in evaluation as I 

write this – a couple that look quite 

promising. 

My hybridizing goals have been on the 

“back burner” the past six plus years as 

fighting cancer has taken up most of my 

time. I tire easy, but I have made a few 

crosses, have some seeds and am keeping 

my hand in it, which has kept me going! 

There is nothing more relaxing on a 

cold winter day than spending time in 

the greenhouse. As for my long term objectives 

– it all depends on how my 

health sustains me and how well I feel, 

but to have my hand in 

32 

coming up with a rose or two that can be 

loved by anybody, and sustain long 

enough to earn a spot in the Rose Hall of 

Fame (be in commerce for at least 20 

years) would be all the fame I would 

want. 

We grow all types of roses; however, I 

know that the mini-floras have a big future 

and I hope that everyone will get to 

love them as well as the miniatures. 

Works Cited 

Boerner, Eugene S. Papa Floribunda. 

Milwaukee: BBG, 1989: 77. 

Krussmann, Gerd. The Complete Book 

of Roses. Portland: Timber Press, 1981: 

164. 

***** 

‘Hot To Trot’ 

Mini-Flora 2006

Miniature Creations of Mitchie Moe 

‘Scott’ 

‘Seattle Sunrise’ 

33 

‘Anne Hering’ 

‘Marilyn Wellan’ 

(Miniature)

American Rose Society 

Award of Excellence Program 

In 1973 the ARS established the Award of Excellence Program. In that program it established 

a test plan that selected gardens from all across the United States. Today there are 

eight public gardens that participate in the program. They include: 

Mesa Community College in Mesa, Arizona 

Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, California 

The Hershey Gardens in Hershey, Pennsylvania 

International Rose Test Garden in Portland, Oregon 

(Winter 2009 Issue) 

Toledo Botanical Gardens in Lambertville, Michigan 

The Virginia Clemens Rose Garden in St. Cloud, Minnesota 

Fernbank Science Center in Atlanta, Georgia ( This Issue) 

Orangeburg Park in Orangeburg, South Carolina 

Over this and our future issues we plan to tell you about these gardens and we want to encourage 

you to visit the gardens. We are sure you will enjoy learning about the important 

work of testing the miniature and mini-flora roses of the future. 

The next two pages provide a quick look at the Fernbank Science Center’s Robert L. Staton 

Rose Garden. Mr. Station was very committed to roses especially new roses. He pioneered 

the test garden concept in the Atlanta Area. When Robert Staton heard about the ARS 

Award of Excellence program he applied to establish a test garden in Atlanta. The Atlanta 

gardens joined the program in 1982. The gardens have been moved three times and now 

grace the front of the historic mansion where the original ‘Miss Daisy” actually lived. 

Since the Mable Ringling Rose Garden in Sarasota, Florida is no longer participating in the 

AOE program, the Robert L. Staton Test Garden is our southeastern most point for regional 

observations. With the significant difference in rose growing programs in the southeastern 

U.S.A. this garden becomes a key trial point as both the ARS AOE Program and the 

All America Rose Selections Program are beginning to provide more regional focus relative 

to the success of new roses in differing environments. 

34

Fernbank Science Center, Atlanta, Georgia 

The Robert L. Staton Rose Garden 

35 

^ ^ ^ 

ARS Award of Excellence Gardens 

2009 Test Bed 

Connie Kneisel 

Test Garden Supervisor & 

Rose Garden Landscaper 

In the AOE Garden 

2008 Test Bed

Gardens Inaugurated in: 

1982, Historic Mansion built in 1918 

Garden Purpose: 

1. New Rose Test Garden – Participates in both the American Rose Society Award of Excellence Test Garden Program 

and the All America Rose Selections Program 

2. Garden also supports the Atlanta area with both Miniature and larger roses on display 

Types of roses in the garden: 

Miniatures, Mini-Flora, Hybrid Tea, Floribundas, Grandifloras, & Shrubs. 

Old Garden Roses may be found at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens 

Number of roses: 1018 

Gardens known for: 

The garden is well laid out in front of a historic mansion where the original “Miss Daisy” lived. 

The approach to the mansion is covered in Knock Out roses. 

Garden Programs: 

Fact Sheet: Fernbank Science Center, Atlanta, Georgia 

The Robert L. Staton Rose Garden 

1. American Rose Society-Award of Excellence & All America Rose Selections 

2. Horticulture Intern Training Program directed by the DeKalb County School District, Graduates may find employment 

in the School District or other local Horticultural Businesses. A very active program focused on garden and 

grounds care. 

3. Garden tours for school students coupled with photography program events. 

Space for the AOE Test Gardens: 

Entire gardens cover 7500 sq. feet in beds alone. 

The Award of Excellence program occupies two beds (one for each year) of the 17 total beds of roses. 

Importance of the AOE program: 

At present this test garden is the southeastern most point in our test network. Since Robert L. Staton started the gardens 

in1982 the rose gardens have been important to the community and used for many purposes by the DeKalb County School 

District. 

Other features of the garden: 

Exquisitely cared for and each bed is raised and lined in brick. 

Example of an environmentally responsible garden with drip irrigation throughout. 

Location: 767 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30307 

Hours: Open daylight hours Tuesday through Sunday – Free of Charge to the Public 

Contact: Connie Kneisel, Test Garden Supervisor and Rose Garden Landscaper 

Other rose gardens in the area: The Atlanta Botanical Gardens 

36

Miniature and Miniflora Rose Suppliers - American Rose Society

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