My experience here in zone 5 is if you plant a potted rose in the ground anytime before the soil is frozen, that's much better for the rose and less work for you.

And I'm just the opposite of Mike. I've had terrible luck with fall planting. They never make it through that first winter for me.

If you have an unheated garage, barn or shed and you decide not to plant them it is possible to over winter them in there. Put them up on blocks in a dark corner once they have gone dormant and remember to water them once a month through the winter. You can just put a couple of shovels of snow on them if you have it. In the spring when they start to bud out pull them back outside into the daylight.

If the porch is well protected from the winds that may work also. I don't know about the tunnel. Would you be able to get at them to keep them watered?

Seil, if you're talking about Fall planting grafted bare roots, my experience is similar to yours. If you're talking about Fall planting grafted potted roses, growing in the pot for most of the summer, then your experience differs from mine.

I'm in zone 5a. I transferred a wimpy own-root, band-size (much smaller than gallon-size) William Shakespeare into the ground, with bud union 2 to 3" deeper than soil, late October before the ground freeze. Then I mounded 6 inches of soil on top. It survived last winter and doing well. If the root is kept moist way-below the ground, it will survive the winter.

The couple of times I tried it they were potted roses bought at the end of the season on sale, Michael. I thought I was getting such a bargain but in the end they died and were a waste of money for me. Now last year a friend from my rose society gave me two potted roses of his in early September. I didn't even try to plant them but stored them in my winter pot ghetto instead. Both of those survived! I don't know why I have such bad luck with planting them late in the season but I've given up trying.

Thanks for all the input! I have decided to overwinter the Knockouts, but I'm still not sure how I will do it. I do have a small shed I could put them in and my front porch would provide lots of protection from the cold wind. They would also be against the house on the porch so they would also get warmth from the house. I will also have some small trees in post that I will be overwintering on the porch for the second winter so I will already be keeping and eye on them and making sure they are watered. It wouldn't be any trouble to water the roses when I water the trees. They seem to have lots of roots...they are planted in what looks like 1 1/2 - 2 gal pots. I would be concerned that they would dry out if I plant them now. They dry out quickly in the pots and I don't think they would be able to send out enough roots into the ground to overcome potting soil that dries out quickly.

More comments are welcome!

Thanks,
Indiana.Matt
Matthew