Yes, for our zones, they will need as much protection as you can give. I've been having luck using a chicken wire ring and then filling with dry leaves for insulation. I also shovel as much snow over top as my back can handle :)

Back when I grew a lot of floribunda, grandiflora and hybrid teas, I first planted the rose so that the "bud union" was 4-6" below ground level. Then, in the fall, I cut back the rose to about 12", mounded approx a foot or so of peat moss over the rose, covered with a piece of carpet. I was fairly successful with that method and lost very few roses each year. In the spring, once the trees started budding out, I would uncover all the roses and usually got flowers in late July. I used to have 70 or 80 roses and I'm not sure where I had the time or energy to do all of this. Now I have only hardy roses and much easier to maintain.

thanks for the insight - the more I think about this the more I'm thinking that I need to stick with hardy roses and try to find ones that resemble tea roses. I really don't have the patience and or ambition to do alot of mulching. Besides I will have all winter and early spring to plan what has evolved into my planned rose garden.

Fern