HI, I think I was going to send you some but you found it in your nursery. DG has it rated as Zone 9a . I can attest to it being solidly capable of 8a. I have had 2 8a winters with it getting down to 11 and 12 degrees. and being below 15 degrees for 3 nights running. It came back fine without mulching. Now these were high and dry during the cold. I would mulch well and if it is going to put down a lot of snow at really low temps I would think of putting down a tarp or plastic to keep it from getting soggy. Snow will act as an insulator. It has done three days of freezing rain where it staid below freezing and snowed and it did fine. I would be worried by below 10F . Out of my experience. Take a cuttings and see if it roots. I made my rootings from new sprouts in spring. It might just take longer. Always worth a try. I would rub the leaves off except for the top , dip in rooting hormone and use a sterile medium and once in a while water it with fungicide. I have seen people use vermiculite and have a cute cutting rooting rig. I tend to keep things simple. They rooted easy in spring.

I found another hardiness rating as 10 degrees F

Thanks for the feedback. This winter we actually did have a day that hit -F temperatures and some below 10. Not the norm-but that's why I want to be prepared. I'd like to see if I can get a couple of cuttings going and put them in pots outside so that I can bring them in on those really cold nights.

I'm cutting challenged. I've never been very successful with cuttings. How long were the cuttings you took? And how deep did you stick them into the potting medium?

Why not dig up some the roots to save, equine? This is what I do with plants that I have not had time to root. It would not need to be the whole plant ........ just some of the roots to keep it going. Worth thinking about.

I rooted some a couple of years ago and most of them took. Don't remember whether it was spring or fall. I gave one to Plantmaven Kathy, maybe she remembers when it was.

I took 6 or 8 inch stems and stuck them about 3 or 4 inches into a half gal. pot with approximately half potting soil and half pearlite and covered them with a clear plastic bag, tucking it in around the bottom of the pots. Try both some old wood and some new stems, also try rooting some in a glass of water and see what happens.

Incidentally my two plants made it through the last two extra cold winters with no extra care or protection. Wishing you luck :-) It's a wonderful plant. I'm trying to root some now myself.

I have it growing out in one of my beds. It is very pretty, but it froze back last winter even down here on the coast, zone 9. But I had it heavily mulched so it came back from the roots. I don't think that I would leave it in the ground in zone 7.

Mine did not freeze back and we got to 11 degrees. Maybe it has been adapted to cold winters. I did have a bit of problem with it on its first winter but clear sailing since. It is 2'high and 4' wide. No watering at all, and it is planted on a high gravely bluff under a cedar tree but it does get western sun late in the afternoon and hard summer sun in the morning.

About the length of cuttings. I took it from the soft new growth. about 3" maybe 4". I think I have had success with the wooy cuttings but it took longer and not as many succeeded. Sorry about not answering this right off. I miss stuff.