Hey!!!!
I would wait and Strip the leaves before you bring them in..Bugs like leaves..LOL So where are you??? not all Z 7's are created equally...

Kylie

"Bugs like leaves"
Don't I know it!
I usually don't have too many problems with the brugs (elephant ears are the worst), altho this year I brought a hornworm in on one and it took me a few days to notice. Ouch.

So I should let the cold zap the leaves first and then dig them?

I am in the part of z7 that is almost z8...but not warm enough to leave brugs in the ground reliably. Maybe a bigger plant would do better than the one I tried.

seahorse

Just to save you some work- I am in zone 7b- NC & my brugs stay in the ground year round & are beautiful! Where are you located? It may be that you have to take them up- but you sound closer to zone 8 than I am..
Good luck!
kasha77