Memphis made it unscathed through this past winter ('22/'23) in established in-ground clumps. Nights got down to 5 degrees several times, with temperature yo-yo-ing that wiped out half of the potted material here in 7a. This cultivar may be evergreen, but she shows she can handle some gnarly chill. (I'm going with a female pronoun because of the blush pink and frills, but you can roll however you wish.) Since I got her from 5a in Indiana, I suspected she could tolerate cold. Blooming later than most varieties, her scapes are somewhat protected from late spring freezes. She's prettiest when the temps are warm, perhaps, in part, because she takes a little while to open fully on cool mornings. However, growing Memphis above the rust-belt means less worry about her rust susceptibility.

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