Gloriosa Rothschildia

In Zone 8a (almost b during a good winter), does anyone leave these in the ground or do you think I need to bring them in? I brought them up from FL and I'm thinking of going ahead and putting them in the ground in a protected southern spot. I got them last year in FL and they didn't bloom there or grow much but they were in blazing sun. I brought the tubers up here in a pot and I think I'd like to plant them in the ground. What do you think?

The first website says that it is hardy to zone 8 while the second one says its upper limit is zone 9. Most of the other sites I looked at say zone 8. Mulch to be on the safe side.
http://www.floridagardener.com/pom/Gloriosasuperba.htm
http://www.easytogrowbulbs.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=141

Hi,
In my yard, they did not come up next year even when they were on covered patio.

Were they in a pot? That'll knock about a zone off the hardiness because the soil in the pot will get colder than in a garden bed. Also, I think the tubers rot fairly easily, so if they got too wet during the winter that could have done it too.

you are right ecrane3. It was in a pot and got wet in winter with other plants. I will buy it again and leave it in ground next time. Thank you so much for the tip.

Sorry if my explanation wasn't totally clear--being in the ground will help if it died from cold, but it probably won't help much if the problem was too much water and the tuber rotted, that'll happen to it in the ground too unless you can put it under an overhang or something. If you think it's going to get wet over the winter, the best thing is dig it up and store it like you would store bulbs, then plant again in the spring.

thanks for letting me know.