I use commerical off the shelf potting mix not potting soil but uou of course can mix your own. I know some people toss in a hand full of alpha pellets on top. You did not say what you feed your roses but I started with a new product this year; Peter Beales Natural Rose Care line. The good thing about this product is that it has other things in it that will help improve the soil.

I can tell you that any of the Benardella roses (Show Stopper and Power Point) are bred specifically for exhibition form, are not stingy, and are at least hardy to my borderline zone 7a/6b area. I would expect that they are hardy throu zone 6, but I can't guarantee.

There are a LOT of minis that do well in Texas. I thought I was the only person that liked minis more than standard roses. I'm kind of particular I guess. I like minis,climbers and arching roses more than any other kind. The shrubs have pretty individual flowers for cutting but the shrub isn't that great looking to me. 'Apricot Sunblaze' 'Autumn Sunblaze' 'Cherry Sunblaze' 'Child's Play' 'Cupcake' 'Crackling Fire' 'Golden Sunblaze' 'Green Ice' 'Hot Tamale' 'Lavender Sunblaze' 'Little Buckaroo' 'Mandarin Sunblaze' 'Natchez' 'Pacesetter' 'Pinstripe' 'Rainbow's End' 'Rise 'N' Shine' 'Rocketeer' 'Salmon Sunblaze' 'Shooting Star' 'Sundrop' 'Sun Sprinkles' 'Sweet Nothings' 'Tropical Twist' 'Very Cherry' 'Wild Plum' These are all sold at Weston Gardens and do well in Texas. PJ Here is a link that might be useful: Weston Gardens

Just went out to check all my leaves. The disease-resistant roses with glossy foliage all have 7-leafets: Kordes Flower Carpet, Pat Austin and Tchaikovsky. Kordes Flower Carpet doesn't have mildew in shade, but Knock-out (5-leaflet) has mildew. Other DISEASE-RESISTANT with 7-leaflets: William Shakespeare 2000, Duchess de Rohan, Excellenz von Schubert, Annie L. McDowell, Blue Mist, Poseidon, Cloudert Soupert, and Crown Princess Mag. ... all have leaves in set of 7. These can take wet soil well, like multiflora rose thriving in wet lands. But the blackspot-prone roses: Comte de Chambord and hybrid teas have leaves in set of 5, and much larger & round leaves. These prefer well-drained soil, and tend to blackspot with prolonged wetness & acidic rain. Multiflora-leaves are clearly a set of 7, see below pic: http://na.fs.fed.us/spfo/invasiveplants/factsheets/pdf/multiflora-rose.pdf "Each multiflora leaf as 5 to 11 one inch-long oval leaflets with toothed margins. The undersides of the leaflets have tiny hairs and are paler than the upper surface. The base of each leaf stalk has a characteristic stipule (green, leafy structure) with hairs or a comb-like fringe along its margins. Flowers. As indicated by its scientific name Rosa multiflora, this plant has abundant, showy clusters of flowers which typically are white, though sometimes slightly pink." Below is Austin rose William Morris, which did terrible in slightly acidic wet & peaty potting soil, then finally died when I put in my wet clay made acidic with cracked corn. Note the leaves are in a set of 5, which means it prefer well-drained & loamy soil, and CANNOT take acid & wetness like those of set-7 leaves. Folks complain about WM being stingy and rust-fungal-prone. The drought-tolerant & disease-resistant Rugosa has rounder leaves in set of 9, plus very bristly canes full of thistles, see below: