Do your pots get any drainage? It sounds like moisture problems. If it was blackspot the leaves would be covered with spots, then turn yellow and drop. Neem oil will not stop blackspot once you have it.
If your area is hot, your roses could be drying out. I have to water twice a day just to keep the soil moist. If the soil drys out the soil will pull away from the sides. So when you water it will just roll off the rootball and drain out with out wetting the soil good.

Hello Dan -

I'm not seeing any more black spots on the leaves - leaves coming in are nice and green. I have (had) five minis - three of them pretty small and these are the ones aren't doing so well.

I noticed today that the canes are turning dark brown so I have no idea what is going on. I have removed those from the rest of the plants - all others are looking pretty good and they have buds and blooms on them.

I check the soil every day - I watered them yesterday so the soil is still damp. I water until it runs out the bottom.

I did post pictures so maybe that will help in diagnosing the problem.

Thanks for your reply!

Kecia

Here is a link that might be useful: Pictures of roses

Hi

I got one mini back on Easter and have had the same problem. If drainage is not the problem, than you are watering them too much. Mine also was down to the bare stems. I went through the same problem. U don't think you are watering them too much but you are. This is what I had to do. Mind you mine were in the house and the temperature was cooler. Let it dry out and don't water it for about 5 days. Then only water it once or twice a week. Bottom water. I have now planted mine in the garden outside. Leaves are coming back from the stem. It looks much much better.

Good luck.

Linda

The brown ends in the picture is die back. You need to prune down to a set of leaves. Cause where the leaf attaches to the stem is where the new growth will come from.