I've moved from Mpls to Charlotte NC

[Patrick in Charlotte]

Any suggestions of what palms that are hardy here, zone 7a/7b.? What other ones might be worth trying? I can't wait to actually grow palms and tropical like plants out in the yard.

[Hammer]

Welcome Patrick! Congrats on the change of climate. There are many more qualified to discuss palms in your climate than I.

But you might look into Rhapidophyllum hystrix and some of the Sabal genus.

[Stevetoad]

Welcome to our dysfunctional family

I'd try these

Butia capitata

Chamaerops

Mules

Nannorrops

Washingtonia filifera

Serenoa repens

Sabals

Needle palm

Do you know what your temps are? Zone 7 is 15f

[DoomsDave]

Patrick!

Welcome!

I'm originally from Ohio which is tropical (almost) compared to Minneapolis, land of the giggling (icy cold) waters.

You need to get to Florida or California, or Hawaii if you can . . .

But, NC has a few palms you can grow, especially if you're anywhere near the coast. SteveToad's suggestions are a great start.

Let us know what happens!

[empireo22]

actually in south eastern part of charlotte near matthews or monroe has a 8a climate, and you can grow butia spp. trachycarpus, sabal palmetto. if you got uncc botanical garden outside the green house they have quite a few cold hardy palms that grow there. but butia grows the best there even without irrigation

[empireo22]

also if you go on 74 towards monroe, in the town of indian trail there is a palm nursery and they have 2 queen palms growing out front, but i think the protect them.

[JakeK]

Most years you should be able to grow Sabal minor, Sabal sp. 'Birmingham', and Rhapidophyllum histrix. With some protection you can probably grow Sabal palmetto, Sabal x-texensis, Butia capitata, and Serenoa repens and Chamaerops humilis. I would also try Trithrinax campestris too.

There is a grower in N. Carolina called "The Chilly Palm Tree Co." You should check out their website for more information and to buy some palms.

[Xerarch]

According to the new USDA interactive zone map, Charlotte is right on the verge of 7b/8a. I agree with the species that have already been named, I think Sabal minor, Rhapidophyllum hystrix, and Trachycarpus are probably the best bets. Sabal palmetto, Sabal mexicana, Butia, Chamaerops, are also worth a try but might need a little protection.

[sarasota alex]

I agree with Ammon about Sabal minor, Rhapidophyllum hystrix and Trachycarpus fortunei being the best bet. If you are ever in Trenton, NJ you could see these species growing for years without any protection next to several NJ state buildings and that is zone 7a. NJ State Courthouse also has a small Sabal sp. Birmingham in the ground since mid-2000's. In Columbia, SC only an hour-and-a-half away (also 8a) Sabal palmettos thrive, grow tall and produce fruit. I've also seen healthy mature Butia odorata and Chamaerops humilis in Columbia. Tuscaloosa, AL is also 8a (albeit a warmer 8a) and there used to be a 12-15 ft tall xButyagrus growing next to some small restaurant not far from the VA Medical Center. Maybe it's still there, I just haven't been to Tuscaloosa since 2009.

[empireo22]

35.138673,-80.716703

if you search it on google map you will find a car wash, outside there is two trunking washingtonia robusta.... alot more people are trying them there now....but honestly butia capitata is the best palm for the area....the dry summers seem to beat up the trachycarpus spp.

[kahili]

I would definitely plant the trachys. They (most of the species) do better than Butias. Up in Raleigh, we don't get many dry summers (although there are spans of a few wks without rain sometimes) and I would imagine that Charlotte gets its fair share of rain throughout the summer as well. I am not sure where this idea comes from that Trachys can't take either drought or heat. They do great in both. We have had several summers that were drought summers and the Trachys did fine with little watering. We always have heat in the summer (usually as hot as Florida) and I have several Trachys in full sun and they love it. They grow a lot faster than the ones in shade and look great.

Washingtonias have trouble with our wet cold winters and I have not had any luck with them. I think that I might if I went to the trouble of keeping the tops dry, but that means building a canopy over them and I have not done that.

There are a lot of Sabals that do well here also. I have S. birmingham, texana, uresana, rosei, minor and several others that are all doing well. Most of them have been in the ground for over 6 yrs (minors for over 20 yrs) and I never protect any of them and they fly through weather down to 8 degrees a few times. I just haven't had good luck with palmettos. I think its the same issue as with the Washingtonias. But I also think that if the palms were larger and more established than they would have done better.

Butias will do well, but you may have to protect them the first winter or so before they get established (18-20 degree nights)

I have a L. chinensis that has been in the ground for around 5-6 winters and looks great. I protect it when it is going down to 18 degrees, but its in a really good microclimate area up against the house in a little nook.

Needles are going to do great-no protection needed when established (1-2 yrs) when its 8 degrees.

I cannot stress enough though that your palms will all do better if you can plant them in full sun. They will grow much faster than if you have them in partial shade or shade.

[Cindy Adair]

The Southeastern Palm Society is another resource for you. Welcome to the South! I grew up in Winston-Salem, NC, but grew no palms there.

[NCpalmqueen]

I am in Raleigh. z7b/8a...same as Charlotte. I have well over a hundred palms of many varieties growing. I do protect the zone challenged ones, but overall, the yard is full of hardy palms. PM me if you want more info on types.

p.s. Look up John Denti. Expert in growing palms in Charlotte.

[Keith N Tampa (ex SoJax)]

Zone 7b/8a is better than zone 4. John Denti will certainly be helpful and I can facilitate the contact if needed. Send me a pm. He has quite a few palms in the ground near downtown...er...I mean "uptown" (a nice microclimate) and he works at UNCC where he's planted many of the palms in their collection. Another palm you should add to the list is Jubaea chiliensis. There is one in Rock Hill thats been there for 20+ years. It has a huge, fat trunk and has endured single digit lows and frozen precipitation many times without any protection. Last time I saw it, it probably had 4' of trunk.

Sabal palmetto works...sort of. It doesn't seem to like the red clay soil. You see nice ones in Va Beach which has similar winters, maybe not as harsh cold but cooler for longer. But they are planted in sand. Also, be aware it does get cold enough to obliterate the S. palmettos in Charlotte on occasion. Record lows are -5F and that leaves very few S. palmetto standing. If that happens, just replace it. That kind of cold is extremely infrequent. Young trees with growing points below ground do recover from extreme cold assuming the ground doesn't freeze. S. palmetto despise freezing rain...and you'll see plenty of that, unfortunately! Start S. palmetto from 5+ gallon pots and you'll have better luck.

Gary's Nursery in New Bern, NC (garysnursery.com) is also a tremendous resource, by far the best hardy palm nursery in the SE USA. Chilly Palms works with him and has been a sort of protege. So, he's learning from the best. BTW, T.fortunei will naturalize in Charlotte and grow in both sun or shade. When small, they will lose their spears sometimes, but they generally recover. S. minor is a no brainer as is R. hystrix. Never had S. mexicana survive even one winter but I was in Mooresville and thats a bit colder (I'm now in central FL). Butia works but is a generally a bit more tender than S. palmetto in my experience. B. odorata is believed to be the most common species, but if you can acquire B. eriospatha, it'd be worth a try since its performing better than B. odorata in the Pacifc Northwest. I think that might work in your favor.

I can keep going, but need to get back to the work computer. :-( Anyway, welcome to the northern edge of the Palm Growing Zone. Charlotte has nice summers...rarely makes it to 100f. Can be dry, though, often drier than Raleigh.

Here's a link to an additional board with members from the SE USA. They can be a bit scrappy with one another, but it'll be a good resource for whats working and whats failed in your specific area. By the way, forget Nannorhops!

http://members3.boardhost.com/HardyPalm/

[Keith N Tampa (ex SoJax)]

BTW, here's a link to my old house in Mooresville. You can see T. fortunei off the corner of the house on the left as well as near the mailbox. Below the T. fortunei are S. minor I raised from seed. The house was vacant thorough one of the harshest droughts in history for that part of the world and the palms were fine. In back there was a Eucalyptus neglecta, more T. fortunei and S. minors as well as some nice R. hystrix. My coldest lows over the 4 years I lived there were around 5F. The palms were never protected, even as youngens!

https://maps.google.com/maps?client=safari&oe=UTF-8&q=157+royalton+road+mooresville,+n+c&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x88540040440d61ab:0x8aa374dca6b8cafa,157+Royalton+Rd,+Mooresville,+NC+28115&gl=us&ei=iRIDUbmhPIOc9QTsjYDAAg&ved=0CDAQ8gEwAA

[Patrick in Charlotte]

Thank you for all the great suggestions. I am closing on a house next month and look forward to starting my experimenting with palms in the ground, finally! I love my house palms but look forward to seeing them in the yard. Have a great weekend everyone!