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U.S. native palms are distributed naturally all the way up to OKLAHOMA, namely sabal minor, which grows naturally along rivers beds there, on southern exposure. Needle Palms also native to the south U.S, are hardy up to coastal MASSACHUSETS!! They are widely distributed in many parts of north Alabama, Georgia, Missisipi underwoods rich in moisture along fertile slopes, which receive yearly snow falls and protection from the larger tree canopy. WINDMILL palms are ALSO native to winter snow areas of central China and northern India/Burma, etc, southern Himmalaya mountains. Actually many of these cooler clime palms do NOT perform well in tropical/south Florida weather-- not COLD enough! ;-) Southern Florida has its own native beautiful ROYAL PALM (Roystonea Elata, a cousin of the more commonly used Cuban Royal Palm, Roystonea Regia) which occurs naturally in southwestern Florida swamps of the Big Cypress National Park, which makes it the only PINNATE native palm in the U.S. ---Serge Grondin (former landscaper in Fort Lauderdale, FL) for over a decade.
The only palm that has a chance in OH is Sabal minor...and maybe Raphidyllom hystrix..both are hardly tropical.
Im a Florida landscaper native of Montreal Canada.. Quite right about sabal minor in southern OH along with RHAPIDOPHYLLUM HYSTRIX, properly spelled name of the needle palm. The CHUSAN PALM or WINDMILL PALM (Trachycarpus Fortunei) and the Meditteranean Palm (Chamerops Humilis) are actually HARDIER than the former two U.S native palms, thriving with MINIMAL or NO protection as far north as Montreal, QC (zone 4!), Vancouver, BC, and Halifax, Nova Scotia.
How would a Washingtonia Filabusta fair in zone 7b/8a?
The Trachycarpus seems like the obvious choice for here though. Is the Wagnerianus hardier than the Fortunei? I know it handles heat better and we have hot summers.
I lived in Panama City, FL and remember a winter ('87-88) where it got down to single digit for two nites w 3" snow on the ground for 4-5 days! I had fully grown specimen of both W.Robusta (which died) and W. FILIFERA who survived! They both lost their entire head of leaves but Filifera regrew the following summer. Was later told it can survive in zone 8a (7b W PROTECTION?)
After I read about people successfully growing palm trees as far north as zone 5a.(although if it gets below -10 none will ever survive) I live in zone 10a but the lowest temp ive ever experienced in my life was 34 degrees. I guess the temperatures are more of a "worst case scinerio" they are not remotely close to "average" minimum. Oil city appears to border zone 5a-5b and get up to -20 but this makes me laugh as its 50 right now and the lows are between 25 and high 30s in Oil city. That is not even close to zone 5 temps, its more like zone 9! Many palm trees do fine in zone 9. I could grow citrus trees as long as temps dont dip below 10f.
My best chances may be in south(east) OH and much of WV with 6a zone(up to -10) but almost never dips below 10. Oil city is almost a full zone(10f) colder, this could be problamatic for growing plants that prefer the tropics and subtropics.
ur right about the old usda maps the used averages from when the usa was colder now they have drawn the new maps and almost everyone in the usa is atleast a sub zone warmer. west palm for example is now zone 10b and downtown miami and miami beach is now zone 11a
Th reason to grow tropical trees up north is because we northerners want something unique that we can admire. Some of us would love to move south but that's not always an option. I currently have 5 pineapple plants, a grapefruit tree, a papaya tree, passionfruit vine, 2 banana trees, several palm trees, a prickly-pear cactus, a sago palm, 2 yucca trees, a bird of paradise plant and a variety of aloe plants and I live in central NY. I bring them in in the winter and put them under lights. The aloe plants and the bird of paradise have both bloomed before and one of my pineapple plants grew a pineapple last winter. The grapefruit tree needs a heat pad under the pot to keep the leaves from dropping in the winter. Besides that, they all do ok. I have lost quite a few plants over the years but I even kept a coconut palm alive for over a year. I am currently working on a starfruit plant, 2 dragon fruit plants and an avocado. The only thing I've had trouble getting started is a mango. So it can be done my friends!
There is nothing wrong with experimenting with growing trees and plants outside their natural range it can be a nice novelty and an enjoyable challenge..as long as you don't plant anything that will become invasive in its new environment. I now live in central florida a palm lovers paradise but before moving down here i grew several types of palm trees in charlotte nc which attracted alot of drive by attention!! And i noticed growing palms up there is alot more fun than growing them here in orlando..the novelty and the challenge was fun..here its not near as exciting. Don't get me wrong the palms in florida are beautiful growing in their natural environment but I miss the challenge of growing them where they normally don't grow
I live in zone 8, and there are many palms I would enjoy growing, but I cannot. If wishes were horses then peasants would ride.
I have 2 citrus trees. I must keep them in pots because we get a few weeks of freezing temperatures every winter. I just roll them into the garage in the winter. You can manipulate nature to some extent if you wish.
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Hardy Palms anyone??
