This is my first year with confederate rose so I cannot vouch for it being winter hardy but I see it growing in neighboring yards so I think it will be okay. I have a comment for Keith. Being very familiar with my home state of New York I think there is a big difference in a New York zone 7a and my South Carolina 7b (although some maps list me as 8a). This is why plants don't always overwinter just because a map lists a zone. The angle of sun is related to distance from the equator. My MIL likes to say that her Long Island garden is the same zone as mine but we grow different plants. We all like to push zones but sometimes Mother Nature wins.
