Is my bleeding heart vine 'Clerodendrum thomsoniae' that we just planted this summer hardy enough to make it through the winter? I live in zone 8a.You can never tell what kind of winter's Georgia will have.Last winter I think it only went below freezing 2 maybe 3 times.Two years before we had an ice storm & we were frozen & without power for a week.There's no telling if we will have a cold winter or be wearing shorts on christmas again this year!!

Does this plant die back in the winter to be completely covered with mulch or just mulch the bottom good?

Any advice and opinions are greatly appreciated

I think it is only hardy to zone 10. I have a vine that is tropical and I brought it in the house for the winter. This year I accidentally bought two plants that are only hardy to zone 9. Not sure what I will do.
If you want to be on the safe side then only buy zone 7 plants and when you have a really bad winter you will not loose as much stuff. Hopefully you will not loose anything!

Thank you very much Susan,

The plant was given to me after it broke off the parent plant during a storm.They couldn't remember what the plant was.They had so many all in pots clementis,hibiscus etc... They are older people,rather they are wise people after 74 years of learning life lessons and i think collecting plants as they went.I had a field day,she gave me so many plants.

Does the bleeding heart die back or stay green in the winter? If they die back what do you think would be the best way to mulch them.Maybe i can insulate them well enough and they are in the sun.If i do loose it maybe they will be nice enough to chalk it up to a life lesson for me & give me another cutting,they root so fast.

HAVE A LOVELY DAY!!!!

It's great that you got to try so many new plants. The Bleeding Heart Vine is gorgeous! They are not actually perennials they are tropical. They cannot handle temperatures below 30° they will dye, so you would have to bring it into the house before the first frost. Or since it is a vine, maybe you can just take a cutting and grow it over the winter. You don't need a light setup, I just root stuff in the kitchen window and move it to a shelf for the rest of the winter, a place where they will get a lot of morning sun.

and why didn't i think of that??? the vine had a limb break off in a storm she stuck it in the nearest pot with soil in it this spring and looky looky at what i got.

That is fabulous, seems like a real easy plant to grow. The flowers are beautiful.

I have one that I hated to give away because it's not hardy to my zone. For the last 3 winters I have successfully overwintered it in a pot in my garage along with some other tropicals. It dies down and comes back from the roots each spring. Something to consider.

Great idea, I hated bringing stuff into the house.

I'm glad to be of some help.