I'm in Zone 9b in the SF Bay Area, and I have a few different zonal
Pelargoniums here - some in the ground, and some in pots. We do get some frost every winter, and pretty much all of the
Pelargoniums get heavily damaged. Except for exceptionally cold winters, though,
most of them survive. The ones on the south part of my Moon Garden largely survive, but the ones on the north side uniformly die. I don't know what the difference is. Ditto some in pots live, but some in pots die...generally the larger the pot, the better the chance of survival, but I haven't a clue why. (Certainly overhead cover or shelter (or not) does not factor into any of these locations.)
The dahlias, though, have uniformly died if left out in pots.
