It's been a really mild winter here too and many of my roses still have some green leaves on them. The potted ones are mostly covered with leaves so I can't see too much of them but the tips on several have leaves still. In some ways i'm concerned too. The problem is if the warmer temps trigger new growth and then the temps really drop and that growth is killed off the rose only has so much stored energy to rebound. If it happens more than once or twice the rose may not have enough energy stored to be able to come back again a third or fourth time.

Go ahead and plant those minis this spring. They'll winter great in the ground. And there's no problem with planting them when they're actively growing. Make sure you make the holes a littler bigger than the size of the pots and just transplant the whole root ball into the ground. That way you won't be disturbing the roots and they'll hardly even notice you moved them. I planted 30 some roses of all kinds from pots last July when it was already pretty hot and they all settled in great. The only ones that suffered any transplant shock were the ones I dug out of the ground and moved. But even all of those made it in the end.

Thank you, Seil. Wow, transplanting 30 roses in July!! Whew! You must have an amazing rose garden. Anyway, It's good to hear that they'll probably cope well with transplanting even if they're leafed out.

I am just getting started with roses...I have an assortment of old garden types (mostly once-bloomers), many of which I planted last spring. They've grown amazingly and I am so looking forward to a big show of flowers from them this coming season. I love my minis, too, though, and definitely want them to thrive in my garden as well. I am going to hope for the best--perhaps the winter will stay mild and all of that newer growth will be okay.

Thanks again!
Claire

Living in a retirement community I have VERY LIMITED space for my roses. My HT/Floribunda/minis/minifloras have filled my space available. Now I have ordered 6 minis and want advice as to the type/size/texture of pots to use. Thanks for your responses.

I would get 5 gal nursery pots for your mini's. If you want to paint them different colors, it's fairly easy. If you want to buy decor pots, DON'T use clay. All the local outlets carry good fiberglass pots in different shapes and color. Make sure it is 12" wide and 12" or more deep. Drill at least 5, 3/4 in. holes in the bottom for drainage. Check with Seil. She has a lot of her mini's in pots.

What Ken said! Only thing to add is do not use any kind of tray that comes with the pot and keep them up on trolleys or pot feet so they drain well. And always use a good light weight potting soil and never regular garden soil. In your zone potted roses will have to be winter protected. In an unheated garage is easiest and best.

are clay pots bad for the minis? i have 3 minis in clay pots just planted yesterday!