Not only are you zone shifting you are paradigm shifting

Jim
Zone pushing rocks ! Pay no attention to anybody against it.
we'll worry about what to do with them when the time comes lol !

I tell them that I am going to sit in my hammock in my gazebo with a tall drink and watch them swaying in the breeze.

That usually shuts them up or has them asking if I have another hammock.

nyssaman your parawhat did a shift what? j.k....lol. topher when you say them do you mean the people are the palms?..lol

I guess that could mean either one lol !

Yeah I get alot of joy when I come home and my two palms are sitting right in front of where I park, consequently the frond are actually invading my parking space...but thats ok!

Alot of people around still subscribe to the idea that either palms wont grow here or they dont belong here. The last ones I just ignore. As for the others weve had palms growing here for quite a while now and my neighbors have definately taken notice of mine surviving the winter temps. I actually have quite a few people/gardeners asking for seed. I can tell that they make some people jealous.

My neighbors all have made up there minds Im crazy. My next door neighbor loves it and has asked me to bring her something for her yard when I head south in april. I gave her a BBB magnolia last year and its growing great in her yard. Now she wants some basjoo pups lol.

Mike you are crazy look at your dining room light..lol..kidding.. I think we all a little special in here - just not the kind of special that takes the short yellow bus to school.

cheers

jeff

"... but seriously,what do they say,when you tell them!"

A) "Huh?"

B) They assume they didn't hear me correctly, so they ask me to repeat what I just said.

C) Nothing - verbally. Nonverbally - A slight smile, the kind that says, "Wait till I get home and tell my wife how nutty this guy is, she'll get a kick out of that."

D) "How do you get it through the winter?"

E) "Cool!!"

I had one lady ask me what I did with them. She loved them and wanted one. I quoted her a price and she almost had a heart attack. Aint no body taking my triangle palm for less than $300.

Whats really funny to watch is the people across the street. They keep watching me and the plants, and one day I saw some palms on their deck. They died later on, but at least I have introduced them to my world.

I can hardly wait until I have a problem where palms are too big. I am looking forward to that time. I would love to have the problem of where to keep a 20 foot spindle palm LOL.

Jeff I guess your right lol.

Normally when I tell them, they want to "know how they can get one".

Orchiddude When they hear the prices most of the say "bull sh*t, no way I would spend that kind of money on a plant unless I could smoke it"

You could show them the book "Palms won't grow here and other myths" by David A. Francko

That's funny i've had lots of people want to buy plants and they kind of act like you supposed to give them one for
wanting to try to grow one ! Nobody has give me any so i don't imagine i will give any away or let them go for
nothing. lol

mike-jaramillo...your correct. They start cussing almost before you can stop talking. Its funny to see their eyes roll back into their head. The lady looked at me like I was nuts of something. I even told her it was the only one that big in the state, it was special. She walked away. There wasnt no way I was going to let my baby go. I work hard for my plants.

Tropher....I have had the same thing here, they think they can just take a few home with them, cause it looks like you have a bunch. Talk about knocking some pots out of someones hands, aint no way, they are leaving my house. Its hard work and alot of time that goes into these plants. I love it though. My mailman still cant figure out what I grow, with all the boxes he delivers in the summer.

The lady that drives the Fedx truck, makes me unload the boxes, sometimes the boxes are bigger than she is. She ask me once what I had inside this coffin size box. I just smiled and kept walking. She would not have believed me if I had told her.

Well, my one neighbor just pretends not to notice anything in my yard, and we don't have fences, so they clearly see what's going on in my yard. The other neighbor used to live in Florida, and he's asked about them, but I still think that he thinks I'm crazy.
Most of the time when I tell them I'm growing palms and banana trees though, I usually get reaction "C" as stated by dln949: C) Nothing - verbally. Nonverbally - A slight smile, the kind that says, "Wait till I get home and tell my wife how nutty this guy is, she'll get a kick out of that."

Since my palms have been outside for their 11th year, the neighbors are used to seeing them. It's the occasional person driving by from another area that is shocked into screeching their brakes to a halt. During the winter, they see the palm boxes in the snow, but I don't thing visitors have a clue what is thriving under them. Everyone I have talked to is amazed and think it's cool.

Ours was just featured on the local TV station last week. I've already received one email from a viewer (via the TV station) asking to contact me to talk about our palm tree.

dln949

Got pics?pics is good!I was called the palm guy the other day,and something else,people do stop and look though,they mostly ask,are those bananas?

Where are the rest of you guys living? I would love to get a cycad---if I could find one here. After seeing some specimens on Garden by the Yard on HGTV, I was enchanted. But I can't find any around here. Any suggestions what to start with if and when I find a source?

Sharlee, Musa Basjoo, get you one coming from Ebay!

OOPS! Sorry, I've gone bananas! LOL Cycas revoluta is the most easily found. Also called King sago.Quite a few others to choose from though. You may also want a Dioon Edule too!

jimhardy, you asked for pictures, here's one used by the TV station (25 bonus points if you can find the musa basjoo, the sabal minor, the cactus garden, the Japanese maple, the kentia palm, and the water garden). Hint - the palm tree is the plant in the middle of the picture ;p

I think I rememeber this palm,you are in Minnesota right?Me thinks me sees a sabal all the way to the left almost out of the pic,basjoo by the hose and opuntia right and below the dish,do I see H. parvaflora in bloom there as well?B.T.W.nice trachy!kentia next to stairs?can't see maple,do I see a stream of water behind"the palm tree"?

In some neighborhoods, including palms, bananas and other (sub)/tropicals into the landscaping is almost taken as a personal affront by some people (like painting your house flamingo pink or something). They definitely make a house stand out when all the other white or gray houses have the standard rhododendron, hosta, and well-manicured yews. So, it's not just a question of zone pushing, it's a question of challenging the local, unwritten code of horticultural dos and don'ts. Topher, I have the same problem with people thinking that because I have a lot of thriving plants that they're entitled to something free. When was the last time your local nurseries gave plants away?! My favorite though was my neighbor who called me over the other day and asked me if I would take in her mother's plants for the Winter and hold them till Spring--being that my plants do so well. I asked her if she was serious. I felt like saying, sure and while I'm at it maybe you want to thew in the kids too because I'm sure I'll be better at raising them too!

Wow! That palm is gorgeous! It blows my mind that its in zone four! I'm in zone five, and often told I can grow nothing other than a needle, and thats pushing it. You take zone pusher to a whole different level! That plant really looks like its thriving too. How do you protect it in the winter?

Charge for both!

jimhardy - very good, you got them all. Except for the H. parvaflora, because I don't know what that is, and I'm too lazy to look it up right now. I award you the 25 bonus points.

And Yes, you've seen this tree before.

dln949

Thanks chad. Last winter I erected a temporary plastic minigreenhouse over the tree, with lights and an outdoor-rated electric space heater inside.

Do a search for postings by arctictropical for another zone 4 palm tree grower.

dln949

I found some of his posts. What you guys do is amazing! Very inspiring!