Barb here is a photo of my three needle palms.
http://groups.msn.com/OkanaganPalms/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=75 As far as our zone in the Okanagan we used to be a zone 5 back in the 60`s now the Valley is a zone 6a in the north to 7a in the south. Here is the zone map year 2000.
http://nlwis-snite1.agr.gc.ca/plant00/index.phtml?mode=browse&layer=zones&layer=cities

Thanks for posting the pic...so that's what Needles look like. They're gorgeous, and I'll keep my eyes open for one (even though I'm not off to Ontario anytime soon).

Yippeeeeee, we're in 6a!!!!! thank you, thank you for that map. I could never get it to zoom far enough to figure it out (I'm 8km east of Vernon), and that's where a bunch of "colors" collide 😆

A friend last year went to a "garage-moving sale", and the woman said "so, you like plants? Come in and you can have your pick..." She ended up buying most of the owner's plants because they were heading out of town. I was so envious, she got a whack of neat plants for $100...made two trips to haul them home.

But my friend doesn't have a green thumb, so... 😈 maybe I'll get 'em just before they die. I didn't see a Needle among them, tho. Darn.