I'm going to try the "black rose" and "scentsational" minis this year. Good luck!

Ooops, I meant "black jade"

Honestly, Karen, I don't think you can make a mistake. I would just look through catalogs and websites and get a couple that really jump out at you. That being said, here's two of my favorites:

Lavender Crystal
{{gwi:1201188}}

Debut
{{gwi:261744}}

Laurie

I love Minnie Pearl. It has fragrance, great form and lovely color like rich cream blushing around the edges. This is not the best picture, it's from 2002, I didn't have a very good digital cam back then. I lost my MP in 2003 and just ordered another one because I really miss it. It's a great mini!!
Minnie Pearl
{{gwi:1201190}}

Ginni

Irresistible

My daughter is the mini person and her favorites are Rainbows End, Wild Plum, Lemon Drops,Starla and Renny.

Jolly Cupido. It's so darn cute, and I'm crazy about red and white striped roses.

Wow you guys are great and in good taste...
I like the Lavender Crystal ....that is just gorgeous!
Thanks and good luck with all your roses this year!!!!

In my zone, Hot Tamale. Black Jade is forever in bloom and runs a close second. Then Orange Sunblaze and Sweet Chariot.

Suz

It's hard to go wrong with Pierrine or it's white sport Sweet Melody. Also The Sunblaze series of minis make great garden roses. Your choice of colors and fantastic foliage.

Hot Tamale {{gwi:1201192}} (thumbnails, click to see full photo) is no slouch in our cold zone too. I resisted the impulse to post pics of our best 5 minis... I tend to get carried away with them. Didn't want you to think {{gwi:1201193}} was only nice in warm zones :) Hot Tamale is about #3 on my mini favorite list.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hot Tamale at Digger and Deb's

Oh come on, diggerdave, post the other 4. I'd love to see them.

Laurie

I agree with Ginni77. Minnie Pearl is a great rose and is my most disease resistant mini. It does get some BS in my humid environment if I totally neglect spraying, but it doesn't defoliate like a lot of them. The blooms on my MP are more pinkish and the red edging is more pronounced than is apparent in Ginni's photo. I also like Amy Grant. Its blooms are a very light pink and although the disease resistance is not as good as with Minnie, it fares better than most of my other minis.

1. Irresistible {{gwi:1201195}} (thumbnails, click to see full photo)
2. Always a Lady {{gwi:1201197}}
3. Hot Tamale {{gwi:1201199}}
4. Starina {{gwi:1201200}}
5. Ooo!Baby! {{gwi:1201202}} didn't even like this mini the first 2 years. Performance the last 2 years forced me to put it in the top 5. Out took some doing to push My Sunshine {{gwi:1201204}} out of the top 5 too.

Sweet Chariot {{gwi:1201207}} is in a class of its own....

I couldn't help it :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Digger and Deb's Minis

'It took some doing' is what I meant to say.... dang fingers won't cooperate.

Ken,I don't know if its a deep south thing but I agree on the sunblaze series.I have been getting the Dewars brand at Walmarts and they make beautiful foreground plantings that are always in bloom in this area.

Thanks for posting the rest, Diggerdave. I love the color of Always A Lady!

Laurie

My pleasure :) {{gwi:1201210}} has been a nice surprise. I didn't expect much from it. I only got it as a memorial rose after my 15 yr old shepherd, Lady, died. I like the fragrance better than any of our minis. Found out that {{gwi:1201213}} was named for Dee Bennett. She was 'always a lady'.

I have a nice size border of mnies in front of my side rose garden. I live in Pittsburgh, and this little garden has to put up with some nastey conditions. It is on a side street next to my house, which in the winter is a virtual wind tunnel. In the summer it is very hot, being so close to the street pavement, and yet my minies always perform like crazey. Mine bloomed up until the week before Christmas this year! I'm talking zone 6, no less. My favorites are American Rose Centennial. It is like a miniature Double Delight. I also adore Green Ice, because of it's strange color. Purple Chariet, as others all seem to agree,is just so pretty and dainty. Corn silk is very strong and non stop bloom. Dee Bennett is gorgeous. Two minies that I am looking for are Baby Katie, and Cup Cake. I lost those a couple of years ago and I haven't seen them in any nursery to replace them. They are the prettiest pink minies ever.

Dave:

You got me with the Dee Bennett reference . How large is your plant?

Terry, AaL gets about 18 inches tall and wide for us. She gets a bit larger for friends in San Diego. She is a little winter tender and blooms about 2 weeks later than our first bloomers. (AaL is planted in the most exposed spot in our yard) We get about 30 to 35 blooms per flush and turnaround time is about 5 weeks.
Sue OBrien is Dee's daughter and has been a friend for years. She got me hooked on Dee Bennett roses. Sue sold Tiny Petals and the nursery was moved to Silver Springs, NV. Lord help me.... we go to Sacramento every year to visit family. Silver Springs is right on the route we take. The new owners, Dick and Carol, are great people and we stop and visit on the way home. I try to keep Deb and Carol from wandering around the nursery by themselves. Deb had 31 minis set to the side the last time.... I got her to reduce the number to 15 *sigh*. Where am I gonna put all the rascals? Alright, I wanted all 31 of them too :) May have to buy the lot next door to make room for more.

Sue is an outspoken, stubborn, opinionated, very funny soul. We argue about everything. Folks at another forum think we are enemies sometimes. We just enjoy having civil disagreements. She needs another ornery cuss to keep her from getting too carried away too :) Note: want to see her go ballistic? Just mention that minis aren't "real" roses...

Susie,
Nor'East Miniature Roses has both Baby Katie & Cupcake in stock. I've ordered minis from them as well as Bridges Roses over the past several years and been very pleased with the roses and customer service from both.

Here is a link that might be useful: Nor'East Miniature Roses

My favorite mini? Like asking my favorite child, but these are my favs right now. But wait till next year!
Irrisistible is just that. Lots of blooms, but they do blow in the heat:

Winsome never stops blooming and long lasting:

Kristin, love the color and the blooms hold their shape and last forever:

Rainbow's End is like a deep lemon with scarlet edges (I think mine has a sport):

Amy Grant, a light pink with HT form. Always lovely:

Digger, that pic of Sweet Chariot is amazing. Is that ONE plant?!

I think it is still one plant :) I should upload a pic taken when we got SC in 2001. It was such a tiny little thing... looked like a twig with a few leaves stuck in a pot. The thing is a monster now. Our problem is (what a complaint...) that SC is so hardy. {{gwi:1201225}} (thumbnails, click to see full photo) these are how it looked after pruning last spring. (the grade rod is in tenths of a foot... it isn't missing a couple inches, lol) {{gwi:1201227}} the dinky rose next to it is the grandiflora {{gwi:1201229}} Tournament of Roses. I have to keep SC wacked back to let ToR have some sun. Those first two were in April. We don't clean out our beds until late May so it looks like a mess. Two months later {{gwi:1201231}} was 3 ft tall and over 3 ft wide. You can't really see the clouds of buds. {{gwi:1201233}} this pic was taken the same day and shows the buds a little better. SC really is in a class of its own.
I'll link our album site below. The filenames of the pics have the date in them and you can tell when during the season they were taken. I deleted some taken when it was in full bloom after finding a commercial site using one without permission.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sweet Chariot at Digger and Deb's Garden

The shack on the lot next door blocks the sun until about 1100 and our house blocks the sun after 1630 or so... can't imagine how it would do in more that 5 or 6 hours of sun per day.

My favorite top 5 mini roses are:
1. Arcanum, 2. Ivory Palace, 3. Lavender Delight, 4. Orange Parfait 5. Dancing Flame & Cheer Up (tied) :o)

Stan

Incognito
Soroptimist International
Olympic Gold
Breath of Spring

It's so hard to pick favorites when all the mini's are adorable. With all the talk of Dee Bennett here she is:

Here's a nice one by Raph Moore with a similar name
Doris Bennett

Incognito (mauve with yellow reverse)

Rainbow's End (color intensity changes with weather)

Bee's Knees

My favorite miniflora
Autumn Splendor

I like the unusual minis. One of the nicest is the original stripe, Stars'n'Stripes.

[URL=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/Cuyahoga/favorite.jpg][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/Cuyahoga/th_favorite.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

I like the unusual minis. One of the nicest is the original stripe, Stars'n'Stripes from 1976.

Third try for Stars'n'Stripes.

It is good to see some great minis that I have or have on the way. Great pics everyone. I like the way they look. Glad you love them.

Irresistible
Hot Tamale
X-Rated
Rainbow's End
Danielle

Irresistible
{{gwi:1201251}}

X-Rated

{{gwi:1201253}}

X-rated
{{gwi:1201255}}

Danielle

{{gwi:1201257}}

There are too many roses that I simply love to name any one of them an absolute favorite, but the rose named after Kim Rupert is always at the top of my list. No photo can do this rose justice.

Smiles,

Lyn

Here is a link that might be useful: Kim Rupert

My top three minis are Jean Kenneally, Pierrine and Irresistible. I have won Queens with all three. They are nice growing plants and all three will bloom their heads
off.