USDA zones are based on many years of data so the cold winters in the 90s (and maybe the 80s) are still being calculated into USDA zones. A few mild winters arent enough to change the USDA zone because then when an "average" winter comes all the more tender plants would die. Plus we got into the single digits only 2 or 3 winters ago so we are far from a zone 8a (I wish that wasnt true though!). I do have some zone 8 plants that are doing really well and I even have some zone 9 plants still alive (my begonias, lantanas, geraniums, gardernia (not just the hardy ones) are all still green and looking good!)
It would be nice to see streets on Long Island lined with palms, probably the best chance of that ever happening is if palms were genetically modified to be more cold tolerant which can probably already be done but at a very unreasonable price!
-Alex

Yeah, we but our winters are slowly becoming warmer. Wow zone 9 plants! That's amazing! I wanted to grow a queen palm here in southampton, but the idea got shot down because i didn't want to protect the fronds. But if we take of global warming into account, we should only start looking from 2000. And the trending patterns from there would be we're zone 8 right? I wanted to plant a chamerodea radicalis but i don't want to cover the fronds because that makes it look ugly. You think that'll work with xmas lights, burlap and then bubble wrap, and then mulch on the base?

It's hard to look at just trends to predict global warming. Scientists who come up with future world temperatures because of Global Warming come up with those numbers by using complex formulas and forecasting models (and those numbers still aren't accurate). Plus even with Global Warming, Earth still goes through trends of warmth and cooling every few decades. In the 80s we were in a cooler trend, now we are in a warmer trend so based on that we might see cooler temperatures in the next few years (but if Global Warming is really effecting climate then we probably wont get as cold as the 1980s).

Chamaedora Radicalis is frond hardy into the mid teens when established. The trunks are pretty thin so if you wrap it with burlap you'r probably going to see that wrapping the fronds is probably going to happen anyways. Some Chamaedorea radicalis are not trunking so those will need to be mulched and covered. I like the look of C. Microspadix better, but C. Radicalis is supposed to be a few degrees hardier especially the fronds themselves.
-Alex

Oh, I like the radicalis better because it has a trunk and has kinda a rainforest feel. So basically I would wrap the fronds and trunk with burlap and put mulch at the base and it would survive? If so, where can I get one?

Hey Alex,

I love palms, and therefore I hope that they will never be genetically modified. That is a horrifying thought. GMO or genetic tampering as I call it is having a disastrous environmental impact, and I think is contributing to the serious decline in the bee population as well as a massive increase in the number of cancer cases in people and apparently new forms of allergies too. I have a degree in Agriculture and I can honestly tell you that GMO is not legitimate agriculture/science. It is Frankenstein science and should be strictly outlawed worldwide!

12 degrees in Southampton this morning. Looks like you can hold on to your 8a dreams for another night at least.