They might look fine in NC.I dont know how hot it gets there,Im sure it gets hot,cause some of NC.is a zone warmer than here.The problem with our summers(use to be) is it gets so hot and humid,you can walk outside and just stand in the shade for 30 minutes and you will be soaking wet.You would look like you jumped in a swimming pool with all your cloths on.Iv'e noticed the last few years it hasent been like that,we have had cooler summers.I remember 10yrs ago when I framed houses for a living,the summer temps.was *95 every day from june through early to mid sept.Night time lows would be *80 to *85.I could walk out on my pourch at 10:00pm and it was so hot and humid, it was nasty.I dont know if its because were in a laninya wheather pattern or what.Now in mid summer we might hit *90 a couple times,but at night it will get down to *65 to *70.People I work with that moved here from up north in the last few years all say I thought this is suppost to be hot Atlanta.I tell them about how summers use to be,and they dont act like they believe me.There use to be lighting bugs everywhere at night,now you only see a few here and there.I tell them I know those hot humid days and nights will come back,just wait.We use to go to Daytonna Beach on vacation on the 4 of july,we would stay for a week or so.One year when we got back,this is no lie,all the tall candels in the house were bent over.That's how hot it got inside the house.It had been hotter here than in Daytonna Beach.No lie!!!

I'm in central SC, zone 8a, and I, too, have had issues with Windmill palms growing happily for years, and then slowly dying. I've noticed the emerging fronds begin getting progressively smaller, sometimes over a period of 4 or 5 years, until they finally stop producing new fronds and then slowly start to die. I've tried digging them up and moving them, but nothing helps. Applying anti fungicides is useless. Now, when I notice this happening, I cut them down, even when they're still green and still look good from a distance. I have no idea what the culprit is, and it's very frustrating and disappointing. I don't plant windmills anymore, because of this baffling phenomena. I now grow Butias and Palmettos, which grow beautifully for me and don't display this seemingly random 'up and die' disease.

Hunter, Palms arent too common here either! Some of the botanical gardens and zoos are catching on though and a few houses nearby do have palms, but its nothing that you would find too easily (unless you knew where to look). Virginia Beach has tons of palms considering that if you go just a bit north or west, you will barely see any! I think that VB is the farthest north you can go to get that Palmy southern feel (Norfolk, Virginia also has a few palms around and lots of other southern favorites like live oak, crape myrtles, southern magonlias, long leaf pines, camellias, and gardenias so it defintely feels a bit subtropical there as well, but not much futher north or west than that). Also, I doubt the sagos survived. It was a cold winter and even during a warm winter, they arent usually expected to survive (unless they have protection). Islandbreeze, the trunk and fronds on that palm looked a bit trachycarpus like to me, but they do look similar when very young, especially when there is a ton of vegetation covering most of the plant. Chadec, I will have to check that agave out! Do you have it and if you do, did it survive the winter? -Alex

Cactus dude, its all good. If you're not familiar with mid Atlantic and Northeast Beach culture, its radically different than going to a beach in California. California is more about day tripping to the beach. It's a year round beach climate and people go there to surf or picnic or watch the sunset. Here, our beach season is short. Businesses have three precious months to make money for the entire year. Rent is VERY expensive. Anything that sets you apart from your competitor or makes your place look more "beachy" will help make the season. Tourists generally don't do day trips either, as most of the east coast cities are a few hours drive from their favorite beach resorts. So visits are often in increments of every weekend, entire week's vacation or entire seasons renting a house (often year after year or generations). Repeat loyal customers are big business. The thousands spent on "disposable" palms can translate to hundreds of thousands for the beach club, bar, mini golf or restaurant. Same for the garden center that sold the palms and installed them. Growers too.