>What would you recommend for winter protection?<

A greenhouse.

Shouldn't need any protection at all. You keep claiming that you grow the much less hardy gardenia brighamii outdoors. G. brighamii is two zones more tender than g. jasminoides so this new one ought to be fine without any special measures to protect it from cold.

Ok, I wasn't aware of the hardiness for g. brighamii. I bought it and the tag just said "gardenia" with no botanical name listed. It looks like brighamii to me. The rock mulch won't hurt though.

'Ok, I wasn't aware of the hardiness for g. brighamii'

That's odd because people have told you often enough, Logan-Caldwell.

Do evergreens go dormant? That confuses me just a bit.

Logan, you don't seem to have any shame nor embarrassment. You've recommended G. brighamii to others on this forum, refuting all of our advice to the contrary.

I strongly suggest that you use your considerable (self proclaimed) computer skills to research winter dormancy of evergreen shrubs and trees. It's a very basic concept.

First off, no gardenia is truly zone 7a hardy. That said, I have grown 'Frost proof' and it survived for many years, but it ultimately died during vortex years and was too large to protect (well I could have taken Herculean efforts, I suppose).

Right now I have 'Chuck Hayes' in the ground. If you can find one of these, you might possibly have one of the hardiest ones. And with your more southern location, it might just possibly have a long-term chance.

I don't think white stones will help you at all, but stones may deter voles, which is good. Also, a thick layer of mulch will help prevent a very deep frost.

During coldest, snowiest, iciest spells, just throw a very large plastic pot over the plant. The more room the plant has inside the pot, the better. You just need to keep the coldest winds, precipitation, and winter sun off of it during those (hopefully few) coldest weeks. Remove pot when weather warms up again. Or you could fashion a wire cage and fill with oak leaves.

Dave, I will add the mulch and the rock. I have planted it in a sheltered location (in between the garden shed and neighbor's garage, leyland cypress on another side and then a fence on the other.) I actually purchased it by accident, not knowing that it wasn't hardy. I thought the tag said zones 7-11 (because it was dark outside) then before I planted it I realized that it said not hardy in zones 1-7. Thanks for the great advice. Rhizo, if not G. Brighamii than what do you think it is? The tag on it when bought (5 years ago) just said gardenia, listing no botanical name.

I think a black box over the plant in the winter, even if just in times of snow, would be a bad idea. For reference, the 'Rose Cones', while not advised to use up here anymore, are white.