I live in Knoxville, Tennessee. In October 2016 I found those mini roses in Publix. Then I took them home and watered them when needed. When I started Christmas break in December, I had to go somewhere and was not able to water those flowers for a month. When I came back yesterday, they looked dry and had curly and crispy leaves, but the leaves were all green. There were few brown leaves and purple leaves. I read some instructions online talking about how to revive dead roses, but none of the situations was a match for mine. So I watered them in the kitchen sink, pruned brown and purple leaves. But I don't know if they're already dead. If not, how can I revive them? Thank you so much for answering. :(

<audio controls="controls" style="display: none;"></audio>

Roses are not indoor plants. No matter what you do, you cannot provide the light they need or the proper humidity indoors unless you can replicate greenhouse conditions. In Europe, they are sold as "throw-away" plants and are kept indoors as decorations until they die.

When you purchase a grocery store rose, it is already half dead because it has not been growing in greenhouse conditions. Often it is in a container with poor drainage which also contributes to poor plant health. Added to that, store personnel do not know how to care for the plants.

Actually, many grocery store miniature roses can be good garden roses, but putting them outdoors in winter either in a container or in the ground when it is very cold probably will not save the rose.

Would of been better if you left em on patio outside.
But # roses are TOUFF ###
You did right thing though. Prune and i presume soaked them in water. Right ? If not soak em now !
I bet # every single one of them lives ###
😎😎😎

Phillip .... depends on how cold it is outside. I've learned from another NGA member that the shock of moving a plant outdoors at this time of year without hardening it off may not save the plant.

My night temps have been down to the teens and day temps in the 30s. The truth is the day temps get UP to the highs for only a couple of hours ... , then start dropping quickly.

You do the best you can, but I don't think I would even have enough outside time for a rose this month.

Philipwonel said:Would of been better if you left em on patio outside.
But # roses are TOUFF ###
You did right thing though. Prune and i presume soaked them in water. Right ? If not soak em now !
I bet # every single one of them lives ###
😎😎😎

Thank you for answering! I am wondering what you mean by soaking them in water. I watered every pot thoroughly, but only the bottom parts (I did not soak the leaves as they were crispy and fell when I touched them so I sprayed water on the leaves.) Is that what you are talking about?

RoseBlush1 said:Phillip .... depends on how cold it is outside. I've learned from another NGA member that the shock of moving a plant outdoors at this time of year without hardening it off may not save the plant.

My night temps have been down to the teens and day temps in the 30s. The truth is the day temps get UP to the highs for only a couple of hours ... , then start dropping quickly.

You do the best you can, but I don't think I would even have enough outside time for a rose this month.

Thank you for answering! For the past few days, Knoxville stayed at about 55-70 degrees but there was no sun. I will leave them outside and watch if anything changes along with the weather.

It can't hurt to drench the leaves in water. Roses do take up moisture through their leaves. However, if the leaves are "crispy and fell when I touched them", they are not functioning leaves and will not benefit.

Roses do not like "wet feet". The goal is to keep the plant moist, not wet.

Temps of 55F to 70F is PERFECT for putting your roses outside ! They will love it.

Taking off all of the dead growth and pruning out the dead branches will stimulate new growth under those conditions. Do not feed the rose until you see new growth. Just water, but don't over water and make sure you have good drainage.

When you do feed, feed lightly and often. The odds are high with those temps, you can save your rose.

You can determine if the roses are alive with the scratch test: Scratch a stem with your fingernail. If the layer underneath the surface layer is green, they are alive. If brown or they won't scratch, the plants are dead.

This time of year, roses shouldn't have leaves.

Daisy ..

Whether or not a rose has leaves at this time of year depends on the rose. If the rose has a lot of china or tea roses in it's lineage, it will not go fully dormant. Many modern roses never fully drop all of their foliage during the winter months ... even in in my colder garden.

i agree with most everything that has been said. Buying any type of plant from a grocery store you should assume the plant is 'disposable' and not expect it to thrive. Try what DaisyI suggested - the scratch test. If you see green then the plants may have a fighting chance. When the weather is warm enough in your area you can introduce the plants to outside temperatures. Later you can prune away and parts that are dead.

I realize this does not answer your question but in the future if you need to be away and have no one to water your plants, there are things such as the "Plant Nanny" you can use with a large bottle. This will supply water to your plants while you are away.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BQTOBHM/

Lyn,
That would be true but if they don't, you should help them along.

The more important question is 'are the rose plants still alive?' The scratch test will tell or sure. If they are alive, they have a good chance of recovering. Having leaves in winter is highly over-rated if you are a rose bush.

Daisy ...

As usual, it depends. When it comes to roses, there are no blanket statements that apply to ALL roses or ALL rose diseases.

If you want to pull off the non-functional leaves of your roses now, that's fine. I usually wait until I am doing my spring clean-up.

Yes, I do too. No use going through them all twice. I was trying to say that the loss of the leaves is not a big deal.

I apologize if I offended you in some way. I will not interrupt again.

Daisy

No, I wasn't offended, Daisy. It's just that so many people think roses are a lot of work and they are not any more work than other plants, unless you are growing a prima donna that needs all the TLC you can give it just to keep it alive ..

Thank you all for responding! My little roses are coming back I think :)
Just an update: there are purple leaves coming out I cut all of the flowers back to 2 inches to allow new growth (after making sure they are still alive.) Unfortunately the temperature is getting cold in Knoxville and there was no sun for a few days. Will update in about a week.
Thank you all again! :D

Han : Sorry i didnt get back to earlier. Glad to hear your roses are coming back 😁!!!
By soaking them. I should of said bottom water. Which is you take a pail. Bigger round than rose pot and at least as deep. Put rose in pail and fill pail with water up to top edge of rose pot and let it soak for 20 to 30 minutes. Untill water soaks to top of rose pot. Add more water to pail if necessary.but dont pour water on top of soil. It will inhibit water wicking up through soil.
You see potting soil is very hard to reconstitute when its bone dry. So i figured after a month. They were bone dry.
So next time you go on trip. Give them a good soaking/bottom watering and they will fair much better.
😎😎😎