Well this past winter was really hard on a lot of my exotics and I lost a lot of them, but I believe I have found a palm that will withstand winters like we just went through - Chamaedorea Microspadix, the hardy bamboo palm. This first year I got the "parent" plant was 2012 and we had a lot of rain, snow and minus temperatures for a week at a time. Of course I lost this plant (of I thought I had) but in the spring of 2013 I notice several little shoots coming up and lo and behold, the plant came back. As we've had mild winters since then - not including this past one - each year the little fronds would survive the winters and get bigger until last summer when the plant was about 3ft tall. Then came the winter of 2016. There was nothing but drier brown stalks earlier this spring and I finally figured that was it. But to my surprise last weekend I notice some green at the base of the dried fronds. The fronds are now growing quickly and I've also noticed a little green shoot coming from the ground. So I'd say it is safe to say this palm will survive here with a worse case scenario of having to grow back from the roots after a bad winter. It will probably never really have the chance to get very tall but to have something that looks like a parlor palm growing in your garden definitely will add a tropical flare.
Largest frond is about 12" long now and there are about 6 - 8 fronds that have come up in total (they're sort of hidden by the Peruvian lilies but I figure that would give them some protection from the dog because they are so small right now) I'm hoping for a mild winter this year so that it has a chance to really to start growing again.
Still surviving - some of the plants die right back but then re-appear and others the fronds turn brown and look dead but then green growth appears. The largest plant is currently about 18" tall - I just took these photos and you can see the leaf damage that occurs. FYI, all the "greenery" around the plants is non-existent during the winter months.
