Even looks a bit like a Syzygium to me. The picture isn't clear.

I have the same issue. Furthermore, something eats the leaves, creating big holes in them. I was very disappointed in these shrubs. No scent.

Yup, looking at least possible that we in the DC area might break our stretch of almost 20 yrs w/o a subzero reading at any of the three major airports. Most likely to happen at Dulles (which did hit zero in Jan '09 but hasn't been below zero since '96), but if that map John posted pans out, could happen at BWI as well. It would take a HUGE event (like Jan '85 or Jan '94) to break zero at DCA (Reagan National) though, since it sits in a swampy low area right on the Potomac. That airport routinely runs about the warmest in the area by several degrees. Global warming aside, it does seem that we run in approximately 30-40 years cycles - there were very few DEEP, widespread subzero freeze events in the Eastern US in the 1930s through the 50s (with the exception of a couple notably cold winters), but the 60s, 70s, and 80s had many, and the 90s a couple. That same trend was true prior as well as, I seem to remember reading that in the 1800s, they grew oranges, at least in private property, if not commercially, around Jacksonville and possibly even S. GA. As far as Kudzu in NE Ohio (my native stomping grounds) - wow. Although as recently as '09 it was in the middle negative teens there one night. I think part of Kudzu's issue is we don't truly know how hardy it is (same goes for most Asian plants, many of which turn out to be far hardier than we'd expect them to be). I've seen -15F as a bottom end for Kudzu recently, so NE Ohio would be about the limit - and even there it would get knocked out every decade or so. This post was edited by hairmetal4ever on Thu, Jan 2, 14 at 9:57

I am growing several. They are quite slow growers, and even though people say that they hate being pruned, I have accicentally broken a few when they only have two pairs of leaves. They are all re-growing buds. I have a few in a brackish aquarium, and a few as pot plants. Some propagules are naturally weaker, and so will die anyway. Good luck!