If you will truly see winter temps below 10º, I suggest you try Kleim's Hardy.

I don't know know where Rocky Mount is but the saying is that Davidson (just north of Charlotte) is the northern most point that one can reliably grow most gardenia. As alex said, Kleim's Hardy is a better selection if you live north of there.

A gardenia is growing fantasticly in my yard, and I am in Central Arkansas. I've only been here for four winters, but each winter the low was between ten and twenty Fahrenheit several times. I think the longest it was below freezing was, I'm guessing, two solid, maybe three solid days (high below freezing). The gardenias have showed no problems whatsoever from any of the cold. The gardenia that is happiest is over five feet tall and as wide, I'd estimate. It seems quite old, meaning it has survived many winters before I got here. Neighbors say it's gotten below ten and stayed frozen for several days, so maybe the gardenia was there then.

I'd recommend you to try a gardenia. I always think of North Carolina as having a climate as good as or better than Central Arkansas', but I don't know. All I know for sure is the gardenia showed no problems at 15 F or so. The gardenia is the 'Mystery' variety if I am reading the faded tag correctly.

Gardenia is very easy to propagate. Take cuttings during the hot months of late May and June. Put them in water, and leave at 80 F or so (my kitchen was 82 all day and they rooted there). Many of the cuttings will root. So, if you know a friend, neighbor, etc who has a big shrub, get the cuttings. If you do not know anyone with one, get back with me in June and see if I have a rooted cutting. I plan to try again this summer, and will probably be successful. If you get a rooted cutting, it will be small, but you won't have to pay lots of $ for it as you test it out in your climate. You may only have to pay postage for a plant trade. If it works, then buy a big one if you want to. Be sure to plant the gardenia in acid soil.

Dear pauline472001,
You may be interested in the 'Chuck Hayes' gardenia that is a fairly recent introduction into the nursery trade. It is a traditional, double, fragrant gardenia with increased cold-tolerance. It is supposed to be hardy into the Mid-Atlantic States.

Niche Gardens in Chapel Hill has both 'Chuck Hayes' and 'Kleim's Hardy.' You can place an order through their Internet Website.