You don't say how you want to use your cold frame. Do you intend to try to raise salad veggies all winter in the ground? If so, 6 hrs of weak winter sun may not be enough to keep them growing during the coldest part of the winter. They may hold and resume growth when it gets warmer and brighter though. If you plan on using it to harden off transplants for the garden next spring, six hrs should do fine. You may not want to use treated lumber if you are going to plant in the ground. But if you are going to use it for short term to harden off plants in pots, should be ok.

That salad veggies all winter sounds good. Can you do that?

Mulberryknob, I have rose cuttings that are small, and I need some way to protect them through the winter. Also, I intend to use it for growing seedlings in early spring. Can I sit the box on the ground or do I have to bury part of it? Thanks for the advice about the lumber. Thanks for your time.

Helen, I may try growing a few veggies, they do sound good!
Ann

We start rose cuttings in the spring and by fall they are left out in 1 gallon pots. We have used a cold frame in the past, buried them with mulch, packed them tight and covered with leaves. The best results have been with leaving them in a protected spot and not covered. We are north of you, so I would think you should be fine with leaving them out. Also, burying the pots in the ground would work if they are really small cuttings. Problem with a cold frame is the fungal diseases that develop on the roses, and having to constantly monitor opening and closing.

Kaye, thanks for the information about rose cutttings! Right now they have about 5 to 6 leaflets and are in 3 quart pots. Burying the pot sounds like a good idea. I took the cuttings too late, but I basically have nothing to lose if they don't make it. Next year I will start the cuttings in the spring.

Do seedlings do well in a cold frame? I don't know anyone that uses one.

Thanks alot
Ann

Ann, they still have a long time growing before a hard freeze..I bet they will be just fine.

Thanks Kaye! These roses are for my grandmother. She had to leave her home due to her health and move in with my aunt, so I took cuttings of her roses. I plan to plant them at my aunt's home. The new owners wanted her roses. I am trying to get them through the winter. I appreciate your help!
Ann

Here in zone 6 you can get some extra picking time from cold weather veggies by covering them with a cold frame when the first frost threatens. You can either make your frame portable to set on top of the ground or you can make it permanent by burying it. You will get more frost protection if you bury it, but if you use untreated lumber it will rot pretty quick. You can also get more frost protection if you line old bricks or rocks or milk jugs full of water along the back edge of it inside. You will have to monitor it closely though as you can cook your veggies if you don't. Experiment. Happy gardening Dorothy

I don't use one, but my late mother-In-law did.
She used old blocks to build one and had a old screen on top covered in plastic. She would pull an edge of the plastic back when the temps would start to warm to not fry the plants. She also used straw or hay bales around it to have some use for longer period of time. Wasn't any thing fancy. Just what was around the farm. Seemed to work great, she always had a huge vegetable garden as well as so many plants.
So I guess it all depends on what you have at hand and what you are wanting to invest into this project.
Good luck with your mothers roses.
Bonnie

Thanks Bonnie and Mulberryknob,
I got the wood and an old window for the top, now all I need is to get my teenage son to help me build it. I always get him to help me build things or work on stuff, so he will know how to do it when he is grown. The one I am going to make will sit on top of the ground, so I can move out of the way in summmer.
Ann

I "built" one using bales of hay/straw whatever I had with an old window for the top. I wintered over some pots of stuff I didn't get planted. Worked like a charm. I would like to try to grow lettuce during the cold months in one.

You have inspired me. I have a glass from a storm door. Now I need some straw bales. When they rot, I will use them for mulch. Sounds good to me.