Getting The Max Out Of Your Mini Roses

By Phran Novelli

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - If you got a rose plant as a gift - like those pretty little mini roses from the grocery store - you can make it last for years by planting it outdoors when spring comes. Mini roses are actually very hardy around here, so they can thrive outside and even re-bloom several times over the summer.

If you get a pot of roses that has multiple plants in it, as many mini roses do, you can cut the roots apart with a sharp knife, or put the root ball in water and swish and tug until you tease the plants apart, and you'll often get four or more plants from one pot. In late spring, plant your mini roses in a sunny spot with a foot or so between them, even if they seem puny now, so they'll have plenty of air circulation and room to grow.

And if you didn't get any roses for Valentine's Day, be a sweetheart to yourself and go grab a plant on sale, because most everything dressed up in hearts and cupids and arrows usually has its price slashed once the holiday's passed - so you can often snap up lots of mini roses for a song.