So, I picked up a huge pot of these on the "dead rack" at Lowes for $8. There's 7 or 8 rhizomes in the pot, and other than a few brown leaves, the plants look healthy.

After getting home and reading more about this type of iris, I'm wondering what to do with it. Bearded iris do very well here, but I've read that this variety is only hardy to 10-20 degrees.

Would you:

1) plant it and enjoy it as an annual; if it comes back next year, be happy

2) plant it, then dig it up for storage in the fall, like a caladium, then replant in the spring after any chance of frost has passed

Would you divide these rhizomes and plant them separately? Like I said, there's about 8 plants in a 3 gallon pot. Has anyone in my zone had much success growing this variety?