Hey Darcy, I am in USDA Zone 7a/b. Dormants definitely do better here. In the hard Winters the EVR do poorly, and some die. Late season freezes/Frosts wreak havoc with them, too. Sev's do good if they lean more to the Dor side of the scale. Any Evr you got grow next to your house on the South, East, or West side. The heat radiating from the house will help protect them from Winter damage. Sir Francis Drake #1 I planted out in a bed. It was reduced to mush at ground level the first Winter. It never recovered. I decided to give it one more try:
Sir Francis Drake next to my house (East Side) the season after it's first Winter here which was harder than the one that wiped-out the first one.
