Michele I'm in 7a and winter mine over inside. You are just on the cusp of it's stated zones so you might want to try leaving it out if you have a protected area. Maybe a sunny spot near a brick wall that will retain/radiate heat and has well draining soil. You could mulch it and see what happens. To be on the safe side I'd take several cuttings just in case it doesn't return from the roots. The caerulea roots easily in water. I've read that it can take temps into the low single digits.
Karyn

Thank you, Karyn! I do have a sunny spot in front of a wall that should work just fine, so I'll try it.
Gosh, I didn't know they would root easily....I'm going to get right on that.
A thousand thanks for the info.
Michele

I'm going to try and leave one out this winter. I had one that did fine last winter (with zone 7 temps) until we had that cold snap around Easter (it had started new growth) and it died and didn't even return from the roots.

I'll definitely take a couple cuttings and root them (as well as a separate plant) inside JIC.

~Chills