Even at Lowe's, I am surprised a Sago was all they had. I know Home Depot's usually always have some others in stock, besides a Sago. Splitting hairs here, I suppose, but a Sago palm isn't a real palm, it's a cycad, and a member of a very ancient plant group. But it is easier to grow in my opinion, although it grows quite slowly. Palms as houseplants are not seasonal items, and should be available throughout the year from virtually any place that sells houseplants, including Walmart. The ones you find in little 3-5 inch pots are Parlor palms, and the easiest of all the true palms for inside culture.

Both of the ones I have, I purchased when they were very small. One was bought on ebay, the other I saw on the sidewalks of Manhattan (regret not buying the lot of them then). They are terrific palms indoors (probably my favorite as a true indoor palm).--Mine do, however, spend the growing season outside. Large ones are relatively expensive when you do see them sold. If you can't wait until they get big, you'll just have to shell out the money when you find one. Although they may be slow they are reliable growers, and being I have a lot of palms, it wasn't as though I was sitting around waiting for them to grow. See what you can find on ebay. Good luck!

needle palms are male and female usually. You need to see if its male or female. Its its male you will never have seeds. If its female maybe you can buy pollen from someone and pollinate it so you can get seeds. I have a female and I have bought pollen from brian at alligator alley in OK. Good luck. Seeds take years and years to get a decent size could take 20 years. Its easier to seperate offsets if they pop up.

It can survive a light freeze without problems. Dont let it see anything much colder than the low 30s though because remember that things in pots freeze much faster than things in the ground so it wont take much for the roots to be frozen solid and at a young age like that, it can do some harm. For the record though, I had a young queen palm seedling outside during a light snow and a temperature of 27F and it had no damage (and is alive and much bigger nowadays!). My silver european fan palm is still considered a seedling, but it's probably about 4 years old from seed now and it was outside for much of the winter last year! It only went indoors 4 or 5 nights, when temperatures were below about 22F. Good luck! -Alex