Place them on the East side if an unheated garage is not available, especially if , like here, the wind is from the west. That would place them in the lee of the house, a more protected area where the wind is less likely to disturb the leaf covering and there should be less dessication.

Cath

my garage is under the house - never freezes, but gets close. Would they be ok there, just sitting in their pots?

I agree with Cath. Get them out of strong winds where they will dry out quickly. Hill them up with leaves or soil and they should be fine until spring.

Hope you feel better soon and are back to yourself. Take care. Pnuemonia is nothing to sneeze at. It takes it out of you and a while to heal.

An unheated garage is a great place to winter potted roses. The only thing I would recommend is put them up on some blocks or something so they're off the cement floor and remember to water them a little once a month all winter. A shovel of snow on the top of the pot should do it. They don't need a lot of water but they will need some since they are inside and won't get any rain or snow on them.

What are they? How large are the pots?

Hardy roses like gallicas or rugosas should be fine in fairly large pots, 2 gallon or larger, pretty much wherever they are.

If the garage doesn't freeze, it probably averages too warm to overwinter dormant roses. The place needs to stay below 50 except for extreme warm spells, and preferable under 40.

Dominant winter winds here are from the northeast. (they don't call them nor'easters because they come from the south) If we get much snow at all, I end up with a giant snowdrift on the south side of the house. So all the woody plants planted there get smashed.

rose de rescht in 2 gal, mystery from Rogue and Chapeau do Napoleon in 5's.
The garage used to freeze, before I had vinyl flange installed all around the door. Used to be able to see daylight, now not. It goes up and down several times a day, letting in colder air.
I safely keep winter squash and potatoes there right through January.

ok all three in their pots, set up off the garage floor on those odd pieces of styrofoam that pack small appliances. Thinking I should remove all those old spotty leaves.....

crikey ..

set them on the north side of a structure.. NO SUN ON BLACK POTS ... so as to not heat the roots in some bizarre winter thaw ..

just a moment before they freeze solid to the ground.. tip them over.. so winter water.. does not accumulate in the pots ... roots need air.. freezing them into an ice cube is not air ...

and then hope they get covered with snow ... which in my MI .. they would ...

z5 is incredibly large.. and divergent.. this is what i would do in snow country MI ... probably not what my friends in say.. z5 KCity ... would do.. as they dont have the snow ... the greatest winter insulator ever created.. by ma nature ...

the pot is the issue.. not the type of plant ... we dont want roots going in and out of dormancy ... nor do we want water accumulation ... [of which media is an issue.. but its much too late for that]

this is what i do with hosta... trees.. conifers... ANYTHING in a pot .. it really isnt a rose issue....

get well ... in the end... it really doesnt matter what happens to them.. if you dont get your act together.. and get well ... eh????

if you insist on a garage.. or pole barn ... water once a month.. with a shovel full of snow.. or some ice cubes.. do NOT water by water can ... roots need air.. back to that again ... we want JUST enough moisture so the roots do NOT desiccate.. but not so much.. you root rot them .... so ice cubes.. melt on some warm spell and dampen the media .. w/o swamping the media... as it might watering on some freaky cold day ...

aw.... throw them out.. and focus on getting well .. set some priorities here .... lol .. i know.. the only thing draggin you thru wanting to kill yourself.. is your garden... 2 thumbs up ... lol .. its the only thing that is .. eventually.. going to drag you out of bed ... been there. ..

good luck.. and get well ..

ken

There are certain caveats with an easterly direction. This is particularly salient when there is leafage to consider since an overnight freeze, followed by a too rapid thawing of the rising morning sun, can lead to cell rupture. very noticeable on evergreens such as camellia. So whilst a plant is in dormancy, I think east facing is probably OK but once leafing out starts, the risk of cell damage is elevated.