I've found that I can safely keep bare-root roses in the packing box for a few days in cold weather.
I may have told this story before, but back in the days when I bought Wayside's clearance roses from Krazy Keith's, I misplaced a box of bare-root roses behind my living room couch and didn't notice it until weeks later. I soaked the roots and planted the roses. All of them grew into nice rose bushes. Not one was bothered by spending weeks in a box, even in a heated home. Those were great roses, and I bet I only paid a couple of dollars for each.
