joebar

I heartly agree. I do not baby my roses either. I have 2 minis that have been in their large containers all winter and they are just fine. Of course it does not get as cold here on the east coast as where you are but we do have a great fluxation of weather. During the winter, the temps can go from 70 on one day and down to below freezing the next.

And you may be right the ones you think may not have made it may suprise you.

I grow 95% of my roses in containers and all have survived the winter with no protection. The only ones I kept in a coldframe were the bands I received last fall and over the winter.

While most minis are pretty winter hardy, there are a some that won't make it without some protection. Even just hilling leaves up over the crown will help many of them come through quite well.