I leave my containerized roses out over winter and have for years and years. Last year was particularly cold with temperatures down almost to zero for many days in a row. That's very unusual for us. The only rose that was severly damaged enough to pitch was in a small (10")container. My best success with overwintering roses comes when I am able to move the pots to a wind protected site on the west or south side of my home. The radiated heat from the house adds just a few degrees of additional heat. The worst site is an eastern location. The roses are frozen overnight, and as the sun rises in the AM it strikes the frozen canes causing the cells to burst from the rapid warm up. Actually my in ground roses with a more northern exposure fared better during this unusual cold snap last year then did the ones facing east. Also, it is best to stop any fertilizing about 7 to 8 weeks before the average first frost date. Earlier then in ground roses. You want your pot roses to not be adding any new growth after late summer...As for sealing the canes, some people will say it's not necessary, but in my yard it certainly is. We've got the cane "driller" wasps, and if I miss a cane, they seem to be able to spot it right away.

I don't know which sides are the west or south, although I do know which sides gets the worst wind in the winter. the least windy side is where the afternoon shade falls at an angle, of course part of that area is in shade almost all the time because of some trees. The side where the snow melts least is very windy as well.

skayc1,

You need to get yourself a compass. lol
That's what I did years back.

Or if you like, notice what side of the house you are on when you see the sun first rise in the morning, and conversely sets in the evening. June 21st is the summer solstice when day lengths are equal parts day and night and would be a good day to check out the position of the sun as it rises and falls....

when I went outside this morning to water my garden I looked to see exactly where the sun rises in the morning. The sun hits the corner of my house where my roses are now, there are some tall pine trees across the dirt road behind my house that filter the morning sun till around 8:45 in the morning. This area is very windy in the winter, and always blows my two seater swing down. The morning sun also hits my front steps, where it is least windy. So most likely I will put it on the opposite side of the house than I have them now.

I winterize container roses here in zone 6 in two ways (I also do not have a garage or the like). If the pot isn't too huge, I bury it in my vegetable garden - just dig a big hole, and "plant" the pot (I then usually top with straw). If the pot is too big for this, I make a kind of cage around the pot out of hardware cloth. I then stuff straw, newspaper, leaves, whatever, in between the pot and the hardware cloth for insulation. Finally, I wrap burlap around the whole thing. Have not lost a container rose yet! (that said, I would not try this with a rose that was only marginally hardy in my zone).

burying the containers is not possible, the reason I do container gardening is that I'm not allowed to dig in my yard without asking the landlord, plus once I do I'm not allowed to dig it up, the plant becomes my landlords'. What is hardware cloth?

Hardware cloth is a kind of wire mesh - I think people use it for fencing and so forth. You can get it at hardware stores, Home Depot, etc. Very useful stuff!