Just saw pictures of Heidy and it's a beautiful plant. But it only extends to zone 8 and I'm 9a/b! Wondering if I can stretch that zonal thing just a wee bit!

calpat, it is always possible to grow a plant listed as hardy to one zone in another that is higher. What the zones are indicating is average minimum winter temps that the plants can be expected to survive. In a higher zone, your winters will be somewhat milder, therefore the plant less likely to experience winter damage.

Why they put an upper limit on hardiness ranges is a bit of a mystery, as it really has no bearing on hardiness at all. A second, heat zone rating would be more meaningful. Obviously if a plant is winter hardy in say a zone 7, it will be equally if not more winter hardy in a zone 8 or 9! I believe they are trying to make some sort of correlation between winter hardiness and possible summer heat and humidity. Some plants that will exhibit winter hardiness in a lower zone just don't perform as well in a higher zone - perhaps because of too much summer humidity, lack of a full winter dormancy period or other climate-related factors that are unrelated to winter hardiness.

FWIW, this geranium should work just fine for you!