Wow I didn't realize these can be planted outside...are they cold hardy or need to be dug up or covered for winter?...I have a few small ones and was debating on whether to plant half of them outside and leave the other half of them as houseplants...now that I see a pic of them outside that gives me hope...I am in lower AL on the AL/FL state line...some charts say I'm zone 8 and some say I'm zone 8b...any advice would be welcome...thanks :)

We've had about three frosts so far in my area this year, and they just keep on keepin' on. I don't know whether you get frosts or freezes in your area, but they can take the frost. Some people cover them, I never have. Not even when we had a HORRIBLE winter a few years back and so many things died. These didn't even flinch. They're growing in crappy sandy soil, I never water them, I never feed them. In the ground, they spread and spread. And anywhere I've planted them and subsequently moved them, in a few months there are babies coming up from whatever pieces of roots I miss when digging them up.
I am no plant expert, but why not give it a try and just cover them for freezes or frosts that last more than one or two nights in a row?

Okie dokie :) thanks so much for the advice...we have freezes and frosts here but our winters can be unpredictable...i think when it warms up a bit more i may put a couple of mine in the ground...i did look it up on the net because i was looking up which houseplants could be put in ground as outside plants too...it said that these could be put outside but it's recommended to put them in pots and in semi shade and not direct sun and to bring them in in winter...yours being outside encorages me tho...thanks :)