I'm not much in favor of over wintering in containers, because some will suffer, it would be better if you could plant them permanent or bury the pots about half way
into the ground....or put them some place, where you will get more snow, like snowdrifts.
Konrad

Marion,
I'm not sure about tropical Kodiak, but I have read that perennials/trees/shrubs will not survive above the ground north of the Alaska Range--raised beds for perennials are not recommended either. No matter where you are, being in a pot above the ground subjects the plant to the colder air temperatures (instead of being somewhat insulated by the ground), the plant has to deal with more frequent freeze/thaw cycles, and often dries out faster.

However, you can overwinter things in pots in one of 2 ways. Like Konrad says, you can sink the pots in the soil at least half-way. Or, try what worked for me last winter--I grouped all of my potted shrubs together in a circle so the pots were touching, and heaped dirt around the outside pots up to the top of the pots. This is a little easier, especially if you have a pile of dirt that is easily accessible, and involves less digging. The theory is that the pots sort of insulate each other that way. I overwintered the 20-25 trees and shrubs that I bought at the beginning of last year, and all but 2 made it through the winter (and the flowering almond is marginal in my area anyway).
Emily in snowy Fairbanks

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread but just wanted to show my unusual solution.

I was unable to find a place to over-winter my container plants (tayberry, jewel black) so they're still standing on the balcony. Thanks to a long but not too cold fall they should have reached their winter chill requirement already so I will bring them inside for winter when it gets too cold, and they will probably flower in the heart of winter if given some extra light, lol.

Then, the plan is, I can safely bring them back outside in april and they should go dormant again, only to bounce back to growth in late may! Does this sound plausible to you at all?

Okay, let me see if I have this right, you want to soon bring them indoors to have them break dormancy and grow throughout the winter ... then to go dormant around April and rest a bit and wake up and start into growth for the summer months? I honestly believe they'd struggle very much during the winter months due to sufficient light, low humidity and pests such spider mites and whatnot. They'd probably end up being so tired and weakened by the arrival of spring that they'd be toast

Yeah, you got the point. The other option is leaving them outside in pots to die so I'm doing it out of necessity. I only managed to take one clone from the big Jewel and I'm not willing to give up the crown just yet. I have a more optimistic view on how it's going to end up but we'll see. I'm no stranger to using supplemental lighting and I have neem oil, pine soap and pyrethrine in case some bugs might want to try hitchhiking with the plants.

I can lower the temperature in the room some, and I can always cut them down if they start behaving.

Let us know how they survived the winter.