Question
I have a hybrid tea, Jackson and Perkins black magic, rose in a container on my balcony. I live in washington dc and it is too cold for the plant to survive over the winter. I have no access to an unheated garage or any such structure. Should I bring the rose bush indoors and what temperature should I set my thermostat. I did mulch the plant a few weeks ago.So far we have experience a few days below freezing. I really need help on this issue.How often should I water the plant?

Answer
You can bring it inside, but it needs to be cool at night, like 50 degree's.  So your house needs to be cool.  Also it needs lots of light from a southern or western exposure window, right up against the window with direct sunlight when it is sunny.  It can winter over outside if you tuck it up close to the house and cover the entire pot with Hay mulch to insulate the root system.  If you bring it inside you will need to cut it back drastically to 1 ft. so that it still goes into a dormant state, which it needs, and will not get unless it is outside. So make sure to cut it back.  Also water whenever the plant has dried out COMPLETELY, because it will be dormant or at least semi-dormant, don't water as much as you did when it was growing, but the root system is still alive and needs water once a week or every other week, depending on the size of the container and the plant and whether it is root bound or not.