My limited experience here in East Tennessee, Zone 7:
Some gardeners leave their hybrid Hipps in the ground all winter, but with plenty of mulch, and they tend to survive at least over the short term.
I have reginae and Johnsonii in the ground year round and they thrive and bloom well. I've been collecting pollen to use when the fancy ones come into bloom in the greenhouse this winter.
A cross of ('Salmon Pearl' x self) x reginae is completely hardy in the ground here. The seedlings that have bloomed range from solid red-orange to red, and many have a white star in the center ranging from small to large. The idea of bringing in mountain-growing species to improve cold-hardiness is a good one and I wish you success!
As a side note, the Salmon Pearl seedling grew as a volunteer on the gravel floor of my greenhouse, where it gets shade from the benches, gets daily misting in summer and stays quite warm and wet, then eventually goes dormant briefly when fall/winter comes and I don't routinely water much in there. It multiplies and blooms extravagantly with zero attention. A few years back, I dug a bunch of the reginae while dormant to sell/give away, and threw the bulbs into various sized pots. Many small ones were in 3-4" squares in flats under a bench for the winter. In late winter or early spring, they spontaneously began to grow and most of them bloomed, conveniently at the same time as that volunteer was blooming. I might dig some this year in hopes of doing the same and getting fresh pollen when some of the exotic Hipps are blooming. Last time I checked, seeds from that first cross were still viable after 4-5 years in the fridge.
Bob
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