I was 9 years old in 1961 when we moved back to the states (Air Force brat). Dad got Mom a Mirandy and a Crimson Glory. One of my chores was to care for them. The obsession began. The fragrant rascal is always one of the first roses I look for. Mirandy was the best of my fragrant reds in Sacramento. Mirandy does not like the cold weather in Montana as much as my other old pals. She survives and puts a decent show. She is not the star she was CA though. Canes die back below the mulch line. Spring growth is slow and steady (8 yr old plant). First blooms are usually a couple weeks behind the bulk of our roses and sometimes the last. Petals often quill quickly but the blooms smell fantastic.
Mirandy gets 4 feet tall and wide here (as opposed to 8 x 8 in Sacramento). Growth isn't as thick as I like and she looks leggy even if she isn't tall. We get a dozen to 20 blooms per flush. Turnaround time is average, about 6 weeks. We don't have blackspot here. Don't recall having seen powdery mildew on Mirandy. Excellent fragrant red for warmer zones.
I wonder if your Mirandy in Sac was on its own roots? Mine is, and it is about three or four years old, and still three feet or so tall. It is still short, but produces great blooms (see pics). My plant is in only about five hours of sun per day here in West Marin Co. We get morning fog in summer, but rarely all day, and she gets some rust and blackspot, no mildew, and keeps blooming all summer and fall.
Mirandy is the choice for discriminating deer. I accidentally left our gate open for one night and a deer ate the blooms off of both of my Mirandy rose bushes, planted at opposite ends of our property, ignoring Mr. Lincoln, Oklahoma, Ingrid Bergman and other red roses. I guess it knew its "Mirandy rights."
Joking aside, I think Mirandy is tops, too. It produces beautiful red, fragrant blooms on tall stems that last a while in a vase. Wonderful rose!
Mirandy has great scent for a red rose. She is very small as own-root. Her scent is strong, classic damask/old rose. Her dark red color stays RED in full sun, while other reds changed to dark pink. Mirandy scorches in hot sun, and needs afternoon shade. The red color changes to blackish red in cool temp.
Just bought the Mirandy rose, and from all of the comments here, I'd say I chose a good one. I am a rose neophyte and that brings me to my question. I potted this one in a concrete container. I planned to move it into the garage to overwinter, but now I fear I should have put it in the ground. Is this variety happy in a container?
