You've just made a little extra work for yourself, that's all. Unless the ground is frozen solid I would go ahead and plant the shrubs, pot and all, so that the lip of the pot is buried, in an existing bed. In spring, when the forsythia blooms, dig up the pots and carefully cut them away from the root balls. Trim any circling roots, water well and plant as you would normally. Otherwise you'd have to treat them like large houseplants, this way they will get acclimated to the outdoor conditions in your yard at least.

the key is: GET THEM DORMANT.. KEEP THEM DORMANT ...

there are many options:

if you have a veggie garden.. and draining soil .....just dig hole and stick the pot and all in ... 'hold them over' until ground thaw in spring ...

get a couple bales of hay .. and group the pots and surround with hay .... and loosely put some inside the contraption ...

place them on the north side of a building... out of all winter sun.. and protect from winter wind ....

any of the above should work .. again.. get them dormant.. and keep them dormant .. and protect the pots from winter wind and winter sun ... black pots get hot, relatively speaking.. and you cant have thawed roots and a dormant plant ...

and do NOT allow melting snow or rain fill a frozen pot with water ... and create an ice cube ... roots need air.. as much as water in winter .... if nothing else.. just knock the pot over after it freezes to avoid such ...

good luck

ken

Thanks! I will stick 'em in the ground close together in their pots in an existing bed. It won't look pretty but hopefull they'll all survive till spring when I can fix the situation!

Thanks!