Tropical Garden in northern Zone 7 (growing, palms, trees, front yard)

[wavehunter007]

Just thought I would post a few photos of my small tropical garden in coastal Connecticut near Long Island Sound. I’m in zone 7 along the southeast Connecticut coast. In my travels throughout the Mid-Atlantic States – I have seen some palms, bamboo, and bananas growing a few times. I have seen several taller windmill palms growing in coastal New Jersey and Delaware, and hardy bananas in sheltered areas in Maryland (Ocean City) and Long Island, NY. I always wanted to try it.

As everyone knows, the climate of East Asia (Japan, East-central China, South Korea) is pretty similar in climate to the Atlantic states from North Carolina to Connecticut. Long hot, humid summers with high rainfall, and moderate winters with below freezing temperatures, but not sub-zero cold like the Mid-West or Upstate New York/ New England.

The bamboo of course is the most hardy, and will even grow in zone 5 – but may never get large due to winter die-off and clums breaking from heavy snow loads. I have seen bamboo in Michigan, Massachusetts, and northern Ohio, but it never gets large (on average) because of the heavy snow in northern areas away form the coast. The Bananas and palms, of course, seem more fragile. I think zone 7/6b is the limit for growing a palm, so I hope mine will survive. The Bananas seem to overwinter fine as long as I mulch them after I cut them down after the first hard frost around early November.

Just thought I would show what is possible in Zone 7 without too much trouble. My yard looks more like it's in South China than in the United States (lol).

[bellafinzi]

Just want to comment that you're garden looks great! Nice job. Looks like a little extra work, but I'm sure if you love gardening, you probably don't mind.

[Ellise]

I remember seeing a house on Huron Ave., in Cambridge, Mass.(zone6), that had bamboo growing in the front yard, and it was green all though the winter. That interested me when I lived in Boston, 'cause anything that was evergreen there was a blessing in the winter. I considered planting it in my own yard, but read that was invasive so I never did.

Down here in coastal NC (zone 8) there are palm trees, also banana trees but I think they may need protection from the cold, it does go below freezing some nights.

[Moth]

Bamboo grows easily in a lot of frigid climates. You are correct to avoid it as it can become a serious menace.

[skytrekker]

My two windmill palms in Connecticut are still uncovered, and look strong and robust in the sub freezing weather over night. It looks as if the weather will moderate toward the holiday (54 by day 33 overnight) So I may not have to cover till late November or early December.

These two palms survived last winter, and grew very strongly over the summer.

[ArizonaBear]

Trachycarpus Fortunei are tough buggers

[tigerlily]

Originally Posted by Moth

Bamboo grows easily in a lot of frigid climates. You are correct to avoid it as it can become a serious menace.

I planted clumping bamboo (Chusquea family) in my front yard about 4 years ago in Portland. It's about 15 ft. tall and only about 4' wide. It is not invasive like other types. I know other gardeners who have used underground barriers for some of the invasive types.

[colldp68]

wavehunter, could you tell me what kind of bamboo that is? -thanks