Should I plant split irises in ground, or can I put them in pots if I plan to sell them in the spring? Zone 6a, cold winters are my concern.

As the title states. I am planning on splitting a big batch of irises and selling them in the spring around mother's day.

We get very cold winters here so I'm questioning if I should:

1. split and store everything in ground over winter and plant them up in pots in the spring?

Or

2. transplant them into pots now? I could store them in a barn for additional protection but I also wasn't sure if mice would be a problem.

Any help is greatly appreciated! Thank you!