In all the years that I've been growing roses (both grafted bare-root and own-root), I've never planted bare-root roses in pots until now. Whenever I've planted them in the garden, I've always mounded the dormant canes above ground with a foot of protective soil or mulch for a few weeks, which would be challenging to do in a pot.
But here's a method I invented for myself this year, and it worked out great. I planted three roses in three large-mouthed ceramic pots, filled with potting soil. Then, for each one, I took an old plastic pot whose circumference was a little smaller than the ceramic pot's mouth, and cut out the plastic bottom. I then placed the cut-out plastic pot over the rose canes and filled the space with straw. I then placed the pots in a shady corner and watered them well.
Three weeks later all three roses had nice, healthy new branches sprouting from the canes. I then lifted the plastic pots straight up, letting the straw fall by the wayside. I managed not to break a single one of the whitish new shoots sprouting from the canes (which I would inevitably do when I mounded bareroot roses with heavy soil in the garden). Here are some photos:
