Sorry Clare! That's what I get for trying to rely on my memory. I thought I had read in a post something about zone 9 and you and that's how it stuck. I am certainly more zonally challenged, USDA claims I am right on the line - 8b/9a. I have had good luck with everything I had planted in the ground coming back for me. I just hate the thought of putting something in the ground (especially the expensive ones) and killing it for no reason.
I used to live in Southern California and had severe withdrawal when we moved from there, but I finally adapted.
~JaNan