Mike Sutton in the central valley has wonderful SDBs
:)
Anita

Hi Anne,
I'm in SLO -- Sunset zone 15/16. Over the Cuesta grade in Atascadero (~12 miles away - bottom of Salinas Valley?) and Paso Robles winter temps are low enuf to have lilacs, peonies and SDBs. They lose tropicals and subtropicals (Hibiscus, bougainvilleas, fuchsias). They are also USDA zone 9.

Blyth's 'Chanted' has bloomed reliably for me, but I lost all other SDBs = no bloom or only the first year, dwindled away. I have heard those in really cold zones report bad luck with Blyth TB's.

Zone 8 is cold enuf for you to have winter chill things that will not perform here. Great zone.

Anita, the San Joaquin Valley (Sutton's home) has high summer temps but also low winter temps. For CA that is :-)

Thanks for the info, Iris gal. I am now in monterey, right by the coast. I've got just a few SDB's none bloomed this year. I think I will wait to toss them, but not get any more. I am trying PCIs and TBs. To my surprise, TBs do very well here in the sandy alkaline soil.