Not one of my brugs survived the winter as I posted previously. I used hardy varieties, planted them in well draining soil in a protected area of the yard and mulched heavily. I even inverted clay pots filled with dried leaves over the stumps. On another board it seems that everyone else in zone 7 successfully overwintered their plants. Granted I haven't heard from anyone else that's in Z 7 in my area. They've all been in Z 7 in other parts of the country and I have a feeling they might be Z 7b, not a. Is it possible to keep them inground near DC? Could they have failed just because we had such weird weather or is there that much of a difference between 7 a & b?
Karyn

I feel one of the biggest problems, Karyn, is that plants cannot read zone labels. I have been moved to zone 8, but believe me, there are many plants that are hardy to zone 8 that WILL NOT survive where I live. I think it purely just experimentation. All of my brugs inground returned, and are more vigorous this year than last. That is probably because of the cool, wet spring we have had. Now, if I get a winter where we have prolonged days of freezing weather, who's to say whether they will survive or not. This is just my opinion, for what it is worth.

USDA Zone 7/8
Copper Canyon
North Central Texas