hey of the few things i find nearly impossible to grow in my z5 ... this is it ... you are z6 ... so it might be a bit easier .... depending on whether you have a z6 or a z5 winter ... i THINK the major problem with this plant.. for me anyway ... was or is.. wet feet ... in cold weather ... IMHO.. keeping it potted will be problematic ... as there is such a fine line with retained moisture in a pot ... ibso presto ergo .... [that means nothing.. lol] .... NO MATTER THE BARGAIN ... I WOULD SKIP IT .... ken

Actually growing many fruit trees, the freeze thaw is a huge problem. Even for trees in ground. Especially in young trees. Fruit trees have a hard go of it. It's best to paint trunks with a combination of white interior latex, and joint compound. The best mix. Dilute paint with 50% water. I'm not sure this is needed with maples? The white helps the tree not absorb heat, keeps it colder, so the freeze-thaw is less of an issue., It is such a problem every fruit tree nursery advises you to do this. The joint compound is more to keep borers out. It works very much like the clay product used to protect fruit from codling moth and other pests. Your maples died for some reason, not sure what that was? But better safe than sorry. I would avoid the flux in temps, as this is exactly what causes problems to plant tissues. Horticulture 101. Every plant has shallow feeder roots. Even trees. One of the problems with discussing what to do for winter, is what we are considering. Each species is different. Japanese maples like the shade. They have a hard time in full sun. Some shade for them is best.They are more susceptible to the freeze-thaw cycles than most trees. Also some are only hardy to zone 6. And even though I'm in zone 6 last year we had zone 5 temps. Most are hardy to zone five but a few cultivars are not. I myself have one Japanese maple I planted about 35 years ago. It is now 15 feet tall. It is not an easy tree to keep happy. It has been a struggle keeping it alive. It seems to have run into every problem these trees can have, but has recovered every time too, so maybe not that hard to grow. The worst was a fungal infection. Often trees become weak and insects and fungi love compromised plants. Often the pest can kill the tree, but really what killed it was the fact it was compromised in some way, too much sun, not enough water. the tree's natural defenses are down, and opportunists will jump onboard. This post was edited by Drew51 on Fri, Jan 2, 15 at 2:53

95% of my daylilies have been overwintering in containers for going on 10 years now, so the quick answer is, yes, you should be able to overwinter yours until next spring when you can plant it. An attached garage would be nice to shelter it. Daylilies will go dormant in your area so watering properly is essential. Dormant roots + too much water = rot. Water only to keep the soil damp so that the roots don't dry out. For me that's about once every 3-4 weeks in the dead of winter (depending on temperatures). Try and leave your daylily outside as long as you can for the foliage to ripen and die back. When temperatures get into the low 30's at night, you can bring it into the garage. Warms back up during the day and you still have a lot of green foliage, take it back outside.....Dirt is seldom a good medium for container plants and especially for tuberous rooted plants like daylilies, but in this circumstance I wouldn't go changing soil on it. Just watch the watering...........Good Luck with your old buddy dayliliy. Post a picture here next year when it blooms........Maryl

Agree with Josh...I would be more concerned about drying winds that could be stronger on some balconies. Obviously, it depends - is the balcony recessed? It may not be that windy where you live. I had both of these plants in containers for few years without any additional protection - they were on ground in garden. Ginko was planted in ground after about 5yrs in pot (started from seed) and in few years grew into a huge tree :) Your zone is warmer than mine. And they need some moisture in winter - but you probably know that since you overwintered them already.