Winter Protection for Minis

18 years ago

Hi,

I know this is discussed on several occasions in this forum, but I want to clarify few things. I have 5 mini roses ( I don't know the names), but they all did wonderful during the spring and summer of 2005. I bought them from a local store during that time. I potted them up in 4 gallon plastic pots. During Nov '05 ThanksGiving weekend, when the ground has frozen, I mulched the pots heavily and covered the stems, pruned them etc. I have the following questions:

1. Are all Minis Winter hardy ? How do they fare in Wisconsin Winters ? Any experience is greatly helpful to me.

2. Is it ok with the above method I described for Winter Protection. I saw in this forum many suggestions of bringing them inside or burying them in the ground. I could not implement these methods as (a) I feared Garage will rot them and increase infections and (b) I could not dig my lawn to bury these minis.

3. How many of you had observed minis living in Zone 5, when they are left in pots on the patio, with just mulch covering them?

Any help in this regard is greatly appreciated.

Thanks very much.

Regards,

Blossom

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Comment (1)

tenor_peggy
18 years ago
I had minis in containers when I lived in Green Bay but I never left the pots outside during the winter, I never had the nerve... I put them in my unheated attached garage. Thankfully this winter isn't too cold for you from what I'm hearing. I hope yours are doing okay.

Some minis are hardier than others - it depends upon the variety. Some like Starina were not as hardy as others like Irresistible. Thankfully most minis are sold own root so they usually bounce back in the spring even if they die down to the ground over the winter. But I grew most of my minis in the garden. The only ones I had in pots were Sweet Chariot (in a hanging basket) and Gourmet Popcorn and these 2 were overwintered in the garage.