i always use leaves or mulch to cover. you do not rally have to cut them all the way back, it all depands on the type of rose and if you can cover the crown/graft with mulch. it is always better to cut them back in the spring if needed then to early in the fall.

Those Flower Carpet roses are unbeatableâ¦possibly âÂÂthe perfect plant.â No mildew or black spot, no watering once established, bloom all summer and thrive in lousy soil. WeâÂÂve used Flower Carpet Red in vacant lots in Yonkers and theyâÂÂre like Energizer bunnies. No dieback either, even with stiff winds off the Hudson. The Red stays low and spreading while the yellow grows taller and more erect for us
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Here is a link that might be useful: GardenWeb

If my canes are over 4' tall, and most of mine are, then I cut the canes back to 4'. This prevents the bush from getting rocked back and foth by the wind. I use tree chippings for my mulch. I fill the beds to a depth of 4-5'.
For your situation, make collars of newspaper and fill the collar with chopped leaves. Do not use silver maple leaves!
That way in the spring the leaves can be blown away!

chillilover--I live in Zone 6 Kansas and I do nothing in particular to prepare my roses for winter. They get to tough it out on their own to a great extent.

Having said that, I should mention that my grafted roses are planted with the graft a couple inches below the surface, so they already have some protection. And my garden is bordered on two sides by 4 oak trees--which means the some oak leaves falling in my yard tend to blow around the base of the roses, so they get some natural protection that way. But the wind doesn't blow evenly, so some roses get almost no leaves. Whatever--I let the wind-blown leaves pretty much go where they want.

The one thing I do is in the spring, I keep a couple bags of oak leaves handy. If my roses are going to be damaged, it is more likely by early spring freezes--after the roses have begun their spring awakening. If a sudden drop in temps is forecast unexpectedly, I put those oak leaves around a few of the less hardy roses for some protection for a day or two. Don't know if it really helps, but at least I feel like I'm trying to do something.

The only pruning I do in late fall/early winter is on any extra long canes that might whip around in the winter wind. Otherwise, don't worry about it.

I hate to tell you not to do much for winter protection and then have you lose some valuable roses, but for the past several years I really have done almost nothing to prepare for winter, and my Zone 6 roses get by fine.

Kate