forgot to say coltrane, your garden is pimp 😛

Not sure about Tennessee, I actually live about 100 miles south of the TN border, but down here in Mississippi we've got good sized stands of sabal minor, and the farther south you go the better the variety gets (sabal palmetto etc.). Ive seen a few good sized washingtonias in Jackson.... surprisingly, and I highly doubt they get protected. Havent been down to seem them in a while. As for other palms, trachys go unprotected here and do fine, although I'm still gonna protect mine for a couple years just in case.

Canadianplant, thanks eh!

Try a Princeps,they seem to love the heat and would probably do well in the south.

Mississippi is sounding really good right now!
What about Butia? Do you have to protect those there?
😆
--Erik

Erik, Ive only got one butia and I do protect it. Did fine last winter. Dont get me wrong, it does get cold here, but daytime temps are usually pretty decent so basically I only worry about overnight protection on those really fridgid nights. Hopefully this winter wont suck as bad as last winter.
I think I saw a butia in some of your garden pics. How are you doing with those in Oklahoma?

Jim, I may try a princeps one of these days. Ive seen them but dont know much about them. Are they pretty hardy? Im guessing I'd have to mail order that one. Never seen one at any nursery.

coltrane,
if you check through some recent forums you'll see my pindo palm travails.
In brief, my avatar image photo was taken in August 2009. It is a little Butia I've grown up for several years. I cover it with a bucket each winter but it gets no electric heat. It is nearly defoliated each winter but comes back strong (seed source was in N.C.). It is now about twice the size of my avatar image, which I'll update soon.
Last year (April, 2009) I planted a 15 gallon Butia I bought at HD, from Acosta in Homestead, FLA. Kept it in a palm hut last winter with electric heat tape. It had a great Summer and doubled in size but is now actively dying from root rot. 😥
So, if Butia like Mississippi, I'll check it out. My wife and hated this past winter in OK and so were looking at Texas, but if you like Mississippi we'll consider it as well.
Anyway, welcome! We'd like to see more photos. --Erik

Erik, that sucks about the root rot. What causes that?

As for living in Miss., I enjoy it although its certainly not for everyone. If you like low poulation density, lack of malls, cypress swamps and giant insects, then it might be worth looking into.

I think the Butia root rot is from poorly draining soil. Check out this long thread for the speculation:
http://www.palmsnorth.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2923
It seems like a potential hazard in your climate.
As for low pop. density, well, rural OK has that. There is a mall up in Tulsa but I haven't been there in years. Cypress swamps? I'd have to drive to the extreme SE corner of OK to see one. Crazy as it might seem, I am designing a garden specifically to be a cypress swamp. I'll start a new thread over the winter with my mad scheme. Giant insects? Nothing my chickens couldn't eat....
--Erik

"As for living in Miss., I enjoy it although its certainly not for everyone. If you like low poulation density, lack of malls, cypress swamps and giant insects, then it might be worth looking into." *** starts rockin out to " my heads in mississippi" by ZZtop

Sounds like Canada, but warm 😀 My area isnt "swamps" it is covered in muskag, which is where Canadian peat moss comes from. Early setlers almost couldt go threw my area, casue of all the muskags misquitoes, and black flies.

My friends neighbor in NC has a huge butia growing, not to mention theres some nice sized specimins around the lower mainland in BC ( zones 7 and 8, and even a few area on zone 9 on the west side of vancouver island).

That needle palm is gonna love it there 😀