Anybody growing palms in a not-so-tropical climate?

[Karl_Bonner_1982]

Is anybody here growing palms in a climate that you wouldn't typically associate with palms (the Northwest, the Mid-Atlantic, the lower Midwest, etc?)

[Gato Moteado]

1. when i lived in austin, tx i had about 8 or 10 species of hardy palm trees.....

....growing in my yard.

the ones that thrived the best were california fan palms, mediterranean fan palms, chinese fan palms and chinese windmill palms

[sazemisery]

2. I just bought a "hardy" palm this weekend

Even though we are hot in the summer, our winters can be brutal by southern standards.

Here is a good resource for info:

http://www.sunpalmtrees.com/Cold-Hardy-Palm-Trees.htm

[Karl_Bonner_1982]

3. What species did you buy, and what climate are you in?

Here in western Oregon we have a few reliable species: Trachycarpus fortunei (the same kind you see around the Italian-Swiss lakes and in Britain), Chamaerops humilis, Jubaea chilensis, and Butia (not completely hardy but close enough to try). There are another dozen species that people tend to experiment with. Phoenix and Washingtonia varieties are not reliable here because the long cool rainy winters tend to cause rot and weaken their cold tolerance.

Moderate, persistent chill can be just as dangerous as the occasional hard cold snap in many cases.

[sazemisery]

5. It is a scrub palm and I am in zone 6b to 7

Sabal etonia - drought tolerant for my long hot summers and cold resistant to 10 degrees F.

[Gato Moteado]

6. i can imagine washingtonia robusta might have a hard time.....

....but washingtonia filifera should be fine. i had several of these in austin where our winters are rainy and our soil is heavy clay. i also had no problems with livistonia chinensis.

you might also try some sabals and possibly saw palmetto.

got any photos of your palms?

[Blue Gardener]

4. This was on "Gardening By The Yard" last Weekend

On HGTV. Here is the link:

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/gl_plants_tropical/article/0,1785,HGTV_3614_5903213,00.html