By Jon Hammond
contributing writer
Rainbow's End, an adorable miniature rose
Tehachapi Gardener's Choice
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Jon Hammond.
Rainbow's End roses turn from yellow to reddish as they age, creating a bouquet of different colored roses on the same plant.
Roses generally do well in Tehachapi, and my recommendation for one of the best miniature roses you can raise here is the adorable Rainbow's End. This little rose is noteworthy because its yellow blossoms are tinged with red, then as the flowers mature, they turn a darker orangish red. The hotter it gets, the redder the blossoms turn as they age.
At any given time, different flowers on the same rose bush will be at various stages, so there will be different colored roses on same plant. This effect makes a Rainbow's End rosebush look like a living bouquet of roses whose colors happen to complement each other perfectly.
This multi-colored phenomenon is so striking that visitors to the Mourning Cloak Ranch and Botanical Garden on Old Town Road, which had a number of Rainbow's End plants, occasionally asked if more than one rose had been grafted onto the same plant.
The term "miniature" refers to the size of the blossoms more than the size of the plant – Rainbows End plants tend to be nice and compact but they will grow as tall as typical tea roses if allowed to. Because of their dense growth pattern and small flower size, they are a good choice for rock gardens or container growing when space is limited. If a person lived in an upstairs apartment with a tiny balcony and had room for just one rosebush in a pot, they couldn't do better than Rainbow's End.
With its cooler summertime temperatures, the Tehachapi Mountains are good for roses and they tend to develop deeper colors. Like all roses, Rainbow's End likes rich, well-drained soil with full to partial sun.
Jon Hammond.
Rainbow's End are beautiful miniature roses.
Now is a good time to plant them as bareroot roses, which are cheaper and often easier to establish. The rose plants will produce more buds over a longer period of time if they are kept deadheaded, though because their colors keep changing, you'll want to keep the flowers on until they are totally dried out. There may not be a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, but this loveable rose is a treasure in its own right.
Rainbow's End Rose
Genus: Rosa miniatura
Perennial Shrub
Starting: Bareroot is good, but can also be transplanted from a container
Size: Typically about 2 feet tall, but can be kept smaller or allowed to grow larger
Exposure: Full or partial sun, doesn't like to bake or be kept in the shade
Watering: Weekly watering in the summer, keep mulched
