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I am fascinated by this thread, as being from the Upper Midwest we have no palm trees. For those of you growing up with them, it probably seems like no big deal.
I know some people that have planted palms in their backyards here in MN. They never look super healthy, and take a ton of work to keep alive in the winters, but somehow they do it.. There's a whole community forum of norther Palm growers...
I am fascinated by this thread, as being from the Upper Midwest we have no palm trees. For those of you growing up with them, it probably seems like no big deal.
I lived in Virginia most of my life, but recently moved to South Carolina. I’ve been here 3 months but every time I see a palmetto tree, I get so happy. I think because I’m not used to them and it reminds me we’re further south, and reminds me of the tropics like Hawaii or Florida!
I lived in Virginia most of my life, but recently moved to South Carolina. I’ve been here 3 months but every time I see a palmetto tree, I get so happy. I think because I’m not used to them and it reminds me we’re further south, and reminds me of the tropics like Hawaii or Florida!
Are there native palmetto trees in North Carolina or Virginia away from the coast?
I'd like to check that out.
If you drive inland they disappear. They do seem to like coastal areas. They are planted all over in S.C. as ornamentals.
They can survive in everything up to a zone 7 hardiness zone. There are several in my neighborhood planted in yards in Tennessee. As I stated before, this is about as far north as you can get away with using palm trees as landscaping (at least in the eastern US) without draconian protection efforts in cold times. Like I said if you look at a USDA hardiness map zone 7 is about their limit.
Hardiness zones are based on rolling average annual low temperatures, which is not a good rule of thumb for the plants in question, which are more likely to be exposed to more extreme lows over a much longer period of time. Zone 8 is a better rule for the northernmost practical limit (NYC is in Zone 7, for example...I wouldn't be shocked at palmettos surviving there in very sheltered spots with urban heat island effects helping as well, but I wouldn't expect them to be thriving without concern and active management by owners....), but with higher risk of loss increasing the farther one gets from the moderating effect of proximity to the ocean.
Austin and San Antonio have an abundance of palm trees as well although they are not as common as areas in Houston and along the Gulf Coast. In Dallas/Fort Worth only a few varieties exist (such as european fan Palms and sabal palms) because of the climate.
You see a fair amount of these 5-10 foot high windmill palms now in the Pac NW and London these days, but they don't look great. To your other point, taller fan palms definitely start right at Redding because of the mountains to the north. It's a hard transition unlike on the East Coast. Redding is also at 40.5N, almost as far north as NYC.
Hardy palms can also grow in places like Switzerland. Personally I find them ugly in northern climates. Not sure why people plant those.
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