We've had some mid and upper 30's over the past week and I was just too beat to do anything with the brugs. They are still outside and look surprisingly good. I've had very little damage, just a few leaves that had frost and shriveled but no bud, seed pod or stem damage. I really must get them cut back and moved soon as I don't know how long my luck will hold. I did begin cutting back the inground plants yesterday. Unfortunately I'm half a zone too cold to keep them outside year round.

If your plants are inground you don't have to do anything besides cut them back and mulch well. They'll survive the winter just fine in zone 8. The above ground growth will be killed back but they'll return from the roots in the spring. If they are in pots they'll be alright for quite a while outside. You just need to get them protected before the soil freezes. The frost you'll experience with the temps you posted will damage the foliage and maybe the new growth but it won't harm the plant. You could always take cuttings now and worry about moving container plants later which is what I'm doing. I've left plants outside until Dec in previous years. The stems had turned to mush but the plants still came back in the spring. Can you tell that I have a habit of leaving them to the last minute? lol

Keep in mind that sometime the weather changes day by day and if you have only a few days of cold I would not worry much. Actually if you look at hour by hour weather you will see that the lows are only for a few hours.
For my peace of mind I would probably cover them at night when the temps go so low.
Pat

I would cover them too. And here's another little trick I've learned, if they get a frost on them and you can get outside before the sunlight hits them, gently hose them down to melt the frost. It's the hot sun hitting those frozen leaves that helps to roast the tissues. You might get some damage, but it won't be as bad. I just went through the same thing in zone 7b, I made it through 1 frost, but I cut most of them down after that because we're going to have a week like yours and I'm too tired to mess with them any more. (I have over 200 of them) Best wishes-
kasha77

Thank you all so much for helping me out, each and everyone of you. Thank you as well Karyn. You've helped and gave me advice since I first got these brugs last year. Much appreciated.

The buds have opened now at the bottom and I'm just dying to see what the blooms look like on the plant itself *LOL* I'm hanging in there. I love them enough to try again next year if I don't get lucky enough to see them bloom this year. Again thanks so much to you all.

If you have them in pots and you can bring them close to the house would be warmer.

If you cut them back to the ground and mulch heavily, then place a bushel basket full of leaves or straw over the stump and put a brick on it to hold it in place over the winter, they should be able to survive the winter in the ground. After your last frost in Spring, remove the basket and pull the mulch back and within a week or two your brugs should start to grow again.

If you save your cuttings in a bucket of water in an unheated garage over winter, they will have sprouted roots by SPring and you'll have a whole new crop of brugs as well. If you decide to dig your brugs and store them in pots in the garage, they may spend the whole winter blooming. It's crazy but that's what they do. Cheryl