I'm in Raleigh NC and I have never seen them make it through our winters but you might in zone 8. If they are grown outside all summer long they do seem to handle falls cool nights but I have never seen one survive anything below 30 degrees.

I didn't have any success last year with mine. I even lost mine in the greenhouse. I had a couple of very cold nights that the heater couldn't keep up. But I bet I'll try again. :-)

I've grown them in containers and overwintered them in our enclosed garage. I cut them back when they started to die, stuck them in the garage and watered just a bit a couple of times. (They came back for 2 years but didn't make it for a third.) They were probably in the garage from late Nov to early April... I don't think it got cold enough to kill the root system in there.

Thanks for the input guys. I guess its a hit or miss thing even with a greenhouse or keeping it inside. I'm a low maintenance kind of person, so the hardy hibiscus is probably a better bet for me.

Even when I've overwintered them in a greenhouse they seem to suffer with winter's lack of sunshine and they are just magnets for aphids and scale bugs. But they are easy to grow and keep happy during the warm parts of the year and are often pretty cheap.

None of my tropicals have ever made it over winter, and Im about in the middle of the state (Greenwood), shame too cos theyre so pretty.My hardys keep going like the energizer bunny tho. Tip I got off hybiscus forum, take 1 cup used coffee grounds and spread around base of plant once a month to promote blooms..sounds crazy but works. man said he got tip from ederly gentleman who had been growing & selling them for years.