No, sorry. The hardiest recorded palm is a specimen of Trachycarpus fortunei in Bulgaria (zone 6/7) which survived -27°C in one exceptionally severe winter
You might want to try a Needle palm "Rhapidophylum hystrix" for a zone 5. The older it is the better for withstanding cold. This is the most cold hardy palm in the world.Google it for more info. Here is a site you might want to check out. www.palmsnorth.com John
hey Takana_Hana My name is Adam, and I live in a zone 5a, and I'll tell you that we have people here growing trachycarpus fortunei. I am 1st winter in the ground outside, a trachycarpus fortunei, sabal minor, livistonia chensis( as a die back perennial) musa basjoo, canna lilies, trunking yucca rostrata. check out this website, they grow palms in a zone5b with amazing results. http://hometown.aol.com/fitzroya/myhomepage/cooking.html If you are gonna get some seeds for a trachy, make sure that they are from one that has been growing in cold climates, and not one from northern florida or something like that b/c it will not be ready to take the challenge you have to offer it. Adam
the dwarf palmetto (sabal minor) may survive as a die back. there have been reports of these palms recovering after -47F. but most needle palms have been hardy to -11F with no damage, after its been established, and some reports of -20F with no damage. Good luck to ya!
hey, I know its crazy,..... However if you would like to see my hardy tropicals in my zone 5a just check out, www.webshots.com and type in ottawa_hardy_tropicals, or zone5a palms and banana trees Adam
I have, or had, three Mexican fan palms that I bought late last August. One is three feet tall and the others are only a single prawn about 8 inches. I planted the three footer in the ground and the others in a pot. When winter came I built a small greenhouse around them and wrapped it in plastic wrap. I also wrapped the tree in rope lights to help with warmth. Put a piece of plexiglass as a top to let in sun light (if we got any all winter).LOL. One of the small ones died, but the other is very green, The tall tree grew new prawns but the mature prawns died back. I have now unwrapped it since it's getting warmer again, but the prawns have now all turned brown. The small one is still doing good , but will my big one come back now that it's warm.????
Ottawa_Z5A,nice pictures. What do you do to protect the livistonia chinesis and the other little palms over the winter? Is the livistonia left out every year?
you could grow a few palms in your zone like windmill palm or needle palm but a severe winter would more than likely kill them. Just experiment with different ones. I am in zone 7 here in MS and im growing a chinese fan palm which is listed by most as a zone 9 palm. i have had it for 3 years now and it has never defoliated but has received some leaf burn. looks amazing at the moment.
I'm new in the community. I live in zone 5, south shore of Montreal, Quebec. I've been trying to grow palms here for several years now. I bought palms from Mike in Montreal. He imports them directly from Florida and I bought many of them, small and large (expensive) ones. I didn't have much success with the large Trachycarpus. They all died the first winter. I lost a lot of money. At least I have tried. It is a different story with Needle palm (Rhapidophyllum hystrix). In 2010, I had 1 large, 1 medium and 2 small plants in the ground. The largest (600$) was sited away from the house and died the next winter. The 3 others are sited against the house et they all survived. The medium one is the nicest, with several trunks and over 30 leaves (palms). It is close to 1 meter high and I protect it only with burlap around the leaves and a piece of polythene on top, secured around with a rope that holds everything together. I leave the polythene open on the sides for humidity can escape. The two small ones are barely 1 foot high. I burry them in dead leaves and they increase very slowly in size. I beleive they all dyslike the weather here and they are surviving at best. I've been trying to bend the zone, but it seems to work for that species. I also own 1 sabal minor, very small, that I discovered survived winter without a protection at all. Nice surprise, but it did nothing over the summer. It is not sited close to the house and is the only palm that have survived away from the heat of the house. Last winter I lost 2 much larger Sabal minor. The winter before I also lost 3 large Trachycarpus, 1 Nanarhops ritchiana and 2 mediterranean fan palms. This is my experience in zone 5 and I think it is the end of it. I think that my chances are better with bamboos and I work on this new subject now. I hope that my experience will help you. Good luck.
Rhapidophyllum hystrix is hardy in the sense that its range extends into northern Alabama, and it does well in dry cold snaps typical of eastern North America. For Illinois, much less Montreal, it would be something to try in a very protected courtyard, against a warm wall out of the wind. There are some hardy bamboos. A local grower has sent quite a few landscape-sized clumps to Oklahoma City, reasonably confident that they will thrive. There should be quite a bit of experience with them in the northeastern US--there's enough enthusiasm for Japanese gardens in New England that many bamboos must have been tried.
T. fortunei has several cultivars....try the hardiest, put it near to a south-side wall and you will see....it's a big deal :)
Seahawk, that Rhapidophylum hystrix looks really beautiful. Many thanks! At the moment I am growing three Trachicarpus fortunei. Trying to find a way to prevent browning of the leaves.
I bought a new Trachycarpus fortunei but that is coming up with brown and a hole in the first new spear. We can never be sure if in transport they suffer some trauma. My older one has done really well even if the lower spears are now brown tipped. I was wondering if to buy a roll of fleece to cover both over winter.
