Marin Rose Society - Rose of the Month

Irresistible
Rose of the Month For April, 2007
by Barbara Picarelli

This month I’ll venture off into a land I’ve not had much experience with, miniature roses. Although I planted lots of them for my mother, (oh yes, watered, pruned and fertilized too) they were HER roses, and did very well there. However for me, not so great. But there are some that are guaranteed to survive even my efforts to eradicate them, NO, I don’t spray them with Roundup, but they have never done for me, what they seem to do for Betty Mott. BLOOM LIKE CRAZY. Minis are a group of roses that have small blooms, although in Robert Martins garden in the desert southwest, I saw miniature rose bushes that were close to 3 feet tall, though the blooms themselves were still small.

Ralph Moore, the father of minis, has done more to popularize them and introduced more minis than any person ever! At 100 years old, he has seen and done it all. So it’s no surprise that he spawned a whole raft of hybridizers, and Dee Bennett gave this rose to the world, and released it through Tiny Petals Nursery in 1990. It’s still widely available.

‘Irresistible’ has won many awards for its exhibitors, and I write this name on many certificates at our yearly rose show. ‘Irresistible’ is certainly that, with lovely ovoid buds that open to a white flower of about 43 petals with pink center and a slight tinge of green at the base. It has exquisite exhibition form, bears flowers both singly and in clusters, and has a moderate spicy fragrance. The bush has medium green foliage that is semi glossy, and an upright tall growth, and is almost disease free.

Having written all this, it has inspired me to try again, so I’m off to buy a Mini!

Previous Roses of the Month