I do not garden in your zone so I do not know how it would react to letting it die down. I have grown Pink sunburst twice killed it both times after letting it die down.

The next time I brought it I grew it in a pot and brought it inside before frost took it down and let it die down in the basement giving it a 1/2 glass of water once a month.

It never totally lost all the leaves but it looked bad but survived the winter. When I put it out it started up quick and it did well.

They are each about 10 inches tall and planted in 1 gal pots.

Use them as house plants during freezing weather. Which is what, like 3 months in zone 8?

Thanks for the responses. I think I will try the houseplant idea as our winter usually stats in January and ends in February. I think I can baby them along for this.