I would not rule out any plant just because it is registered as a dormant. I know they have a reputation for not doing well in 8b, but I grow over 80 of them, and right now I could not walk down in the garden and tell you which is dormant and which is evergreen. Also I could not tell you by performance which is which anymore. Some of my best performers are dormants. I use the term dormant even though it has been replaced by deciduous because that is how my plant step program still lists them and how my list here on Garden.org has them listed. Look at my plant list here on this site, you will see a lot of dormants listed. I do lose a dormant occasionally, but I also lose an evergreen occasionally. When I first got into daylilies and lost a plant and it was registered as a dormant I assumed that was the reason it died, I no longer feel that way. Grow a few dormants, see how they perform for you.
