Overwintering eggplants?

[Retrograde]

Although they did produce decently this year, I have two eggplants in the garden that have gone crazy and put out a bunch of blossoms. I've had tomato and pepper plants that overwintered in my yard (although they don't seem to set fruit with the short days) - I'm on the peninsula south of San Francisco - but I've never seen eggplants being so vigorous this late. Are they perchance perennials in their native environments?

[RockRaven]

1. Eggplants can be perennial in the tropics, but their origin point is debated,

so whether the annual or perennial behavior is the natural one I don't know.

You can try to over winter them, but it probably won't work without a lot of active intervention. We only tried once and didn't come close to success. They are damaged by the cold even above frost temps.