At ACE Hardware a 3' x 24' roll of burlaps costs $13. That is only $1.65 per yard.

Do not use the plastic. It will kill your plants. It will create a greenhouse and cook them. It will keep rain of them and dry them out.

What you need is shade from winter sun when the ground is frozen and protection from the winter winds when the ground is frozen. Burlap can do this without any plastic. Leave the tops open. Do not cover the plants. Just put up wind breaks and shade, but do not cover.

When I was first planting our landscaping, I put in larger plants in the front and I never protected anything on the front of our home which is the south. But in back on the north, I would put in very young plants and would protect them the first year with 2' x 8' pieces of plywood that I had lying around. I would put up stakes and fasten the plywood so that it acted like a 2' high fence on the south side of the new plantings. I don't know if I needed it, but it worked.

If these are small greenhouse plants they will need more protection. If they are larger field grown plants they should be OK if they are appropriate to your area. The idea is to buy plants that are hardy for the areas where they will be planted. There are plants that are hardy for Minnesota, so your cold NC is a walk in the park for those plants.

Evergreen azaleas typically take 3 years from when they were removed from the greenhouse to develop their full hardiness.

Some rhododendrons are very hardy and most deciduous azaleas are very hardy.

Actually at ACE Hardware a 3' x 24' roll of natural burlap costs $14. That is $1.75 per yard.

The idea is to find out what USDA hardiness zone you live in. They buy plants that are hardy for your zone.
Some rhododendrons are very hardy and most deciduous azaleas are very hardy.

USDA Hardiness Zone Map For North Carolina

Here is a link that might be useful: Natural Burlap For Landscape Use

Thank You very much Rhodyman. You have come to my rescue once again.

I too have 2 young, Nova Zembla planted in the front yard, about 2 feet from the house. There is a thin layer of bark mulch around the base (not touching the trunk), but want to know how to protect the leaves for this first winter. I saw a product called "easy grow-plant protector bags" and was wondering if these would work. Would I leave the tops open like burlap or should I just purchase burlap or pine boughs and make a 'screen'?

Thanks for any recommendations.