Palm Trees in North Dakota?

[Blackcat]

I found this house in Dickinson, ND in a old street view image (2011) that has palm trees. I was searching Palm Trees in North Dakota on google and found an interesting very old article that had someone cultivating palms back in 2010.

 

[PAPalmtrees]

1 hour ago, Blackcat said:

I found this house in Dickinson, ND in a old street view image (2011) that has palm trees. I was searching Palm Trees in North Dakota on google and found an interesting very old article that had someone cultivating palms back in 2010.

 

Wow that's very cool I wonder how they protected them.

[N8ALLRIGHT]

My Dad's side of the family is from North Dakota.  

It's really cold there, would have to be a Herculean effort to make it .

I haven't been back there in a long time, but I remember the winters were savage. 

Seemed like it snowed every day, but it was just the wind blowing snow,if you looked up the sky was blue. 

 

[JohnAndSancho]

I was in Minnesota in the winter of 2000 and good lord I don't ever want to deal with that again and yet somehow lolol it happens down here now. I learned the hard way what a whitewash is, I went ice fishing and puckered hard every time I heard the ice crack, I thought their sauna thing was a bit much, but I can't imagine growing palms someplace even colder than that. 

[Slifer00]

18 hours ago, PAPalmtrees said:

Wow that's very cool I wonder how they protected them.

Wow! I'm guessing they build an entire heated boxed over them, otherwise no way they would make it till Christmas with regular old-fashioned lights and burlap in zone 3/4

[Harry’s Palms]

It looks like the tall one didn’t quite get enough protection and is coming back from shock (cold) but that has to be a major prep job before winter comes., heat and grow lights.Harry

[KPoff]

That’s almost one of the coldest areas in the country, or at least in the top 10. I lived in eastern Montana growing up and it definitely was not palm tree weather. It’s impressive they are keeping them alive and I’m sure is a ton of effort, but hey, to each their own.

[DreaminAboutPalms]

There was a guy in Iowa who got a Washingtonian to like 20 feet tall by building a greenhouse over it each winter, although that's a few zones warmer. I've also heard of a guy in northern MN who grew a trachy to 30 feet tall so it's certainly possible. 

https://www.nwestiowa.com/news/sibley-man-cuts-down-unlikely-palm-tree/article_6fc173c0-ecb8-11e9-81e5-efee02cc76e9.html

[DreaminAboutPalms]

Another Iowa example

[Las Palmas Norte]

@DreaminAboutPalms how long have you been growing and protecting your Washingtonia? Methods etc.?

[DreaminAboutPalms]

On 9/8/2025 at 11:22 AM, Las Palmas Norte said:

@DreaminAboutPalms how long have you been growing and protecting your Washingtonia? Methods etc.?

I am currently living in Texas so can't offer much advice, however it's likely I will move back to MN at some point to be closer to family, and if I do, I will definitely bring up a washie with some trunk to see if I can get it to survive winter.

Probably what I would try first is wrapping the trunk with insulation and plastic wrap like they did with these washies in Tulsa, then building a heated greenhouse over the top of it. Winters up there are pretty sunny also, which would help.