Sounds to me like you are more concerned with the looks of the front of your home, then you are about the welfare of the roses. You know, people are funny about the look of things. Initially, they may drive by and wonder what you are about, but after awhile, they don't pay any attention to it anymore, it just becomes part of the suburban wall paper. Make a choice - the survival of your roses or the look of the front of your home. It's really a question of mind over matter, if you don't mind, it doesn't matter.

In A Year of Roses, Stephen Scanniello suggests Salt Hay, Evergreen Boughs (discarded holiday greens from Trees and Wreaths) or Burlap.

Well, I tried weaving evergreen boughs into the trellises I had my climbing roses on, and then wrapped them with burlap and landscape fabric, and they still died to the mulch line. Now, I'm a zone colder than you, and there may have been some unknown factor that hurt them, but I just offer this for what it's worth. I'm certainly no expert on roses. If you do try it and it works, I hope you'll post again in the spring.

I'm totally confused about why my motives are questioned. Of course I care about the beauty of my garden...in all seasons. And the nature of the question/solution implies concern about the well-being of my roses. I guess some folks don't limit throwing manure solely into their gardens.

I decided to buy the bamboo shades. Found some dark bamboo shades at HD and tried it out. I got 39x72" shades. Had to buy 2 because my pillars are rather large in height and circumference. I think there's enough space between the strips for aeration and it looks nice. I'll post a pic when I get it installed. Hopefully, we won't get too much snow before Christmas so I'll be able to cash in on all those greens headed for the compost pile.