Depending on what part of the state you are in I'd expect any of them would benefit from some protection (such as provided by a sheltered wall) as this species is not fully hardy. I have seen a small white one burned down to the snow line here in USDA 8. And a largish purpleleaf one on a sunny slope backed by a fence and surrounded by larger trees and shrubs, in a Seattle park has clear signs of having been damaged by cold in the past. Hardiness ratings below USDA 8 coming from eastern sources may be based on increased hardiness due to maturity of wood produced by hot summers, variation in hardiness between cultivars, or just plain wrong. Sunset climate zone ratings in WESTERN GARDEN BOOK (and NATIONAL GARDEN BOOK) support hardier in hotter summer theory, as it is indicated as hardy in Willamette Valley climate but "borderline" in western WA. Main difference would be hotter summers, with winters similar or even colder in Sunset 6 (depending on which part of WA comparing to). "Generally 5-10 ft. tall. Neat, compact habit with arching or drooping tiered branches...Needs well-drained, nonalkaline soil. Subtly beautiful plant, good in foregrounds, raised beds, hanging baskets, woodland gardens, even maintained as a high ground cover" -- Sunset NATIONAL GARDEN BOOK, which zones it as hardy in Sunset 31 ('Interior Plains of Gulf Coast and Coastal Southeast States') and borderline in Sunset 32 ('Interior Plains of Mid-Atlantic States; Chesapeake Bay, Southwestern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey'). Wilmington is shown in Zone 31, Charlotte in Zone 32 and Columbia right on the border between the two.

It is beautiful, as is the rest of the garden! How old is this Fringe tree, Renee? Mine is about 6 years in the ground from a root-bound 5-gallon (I think it is still recovering from that). It is lovely but I don't get this many blooms. Mine is about 12'T but yours looks considerably taller.

This is an easy enough to grow plant if you give it woodland conditions and don't expect it to do well where it will get blasted by hot sun and wind. It also gets deceptively large and very wide with age, and is too often planted into too small spaces where it will have to be butchered to make it fit. If you don't have at least 6 feet across in all directions for this shrub, and it won't have some mid day dappled shade, I would suggest that you look at other reddish foliaged shrubs instead. Had you considered something like Purple Smoke Bush/Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple'? This is abit slower in growth, and lends itself to training up as a small tree or multi-trunk shrub which can be limbed up, and is also much more open in habit than the Loropetalum, which is very dense. The Smoke Bush is deciduous in winter, however, but is also more tolerant of hot sun and needs much less water. You might also consider one of the Dwarf Weeping Red Japanese Maples for this spot, as they are also slower to get too big, and with good irrigation in summer and some protection from hot winds, can look very nice as a specimen shrub accent.

I have a 1-gallon Pipa's Red Chinese Fringe Flower. The label says USDA zones 7-9, but I live in zone 10b, close to the limit with zone 10a. Will it survive in my zone? On labels, they always include the avg. min. temp for a zone, but not the max. Is it too hot where I live and that's why it's not recommended in my zone? Would it help if I plant it in a "shadier" spot?