This thread really makes me miss Arizona. I really hope I can move back there someday. Palms I remember seeing (growing happily) while I lived there were (aside from common palms like Washingtonia): Butia, Brahea, Sabal uresana, Nannorrhops ritchiana, Jubaea chilensis. Other palms that were large and appeared to be growing well: Sabal palmetto (on the UA campus), Trachycarpus fortuni, Livistona chinensis, Acoelorrhaphe wrightii.. I think any Sabal would grow fine in Arizona, but from what I understand the ones that are native to humid areas grow much more slowly than they do in their native habitat. The palmetto that grows on the UA campus looks like dwarf, and in my opinion it looks even more attractive that way. Some fun experimental palms for the Sonoran Desert: Any Hyphaene Medemia argun ..both palms native to African deserts, and I think they would do fine in Phoenix or Yuma (hot zone 9a/9b). Odds are you'd be the only one growing them as well. +Awesome saguaros btw! This post was edited by fr8train on Fri, Jan 4, 13 at 0:10

Thanks everybody. Statenislandpalm7a I'm surprize you like it. Because compared to some of the Staten Island front yards, my back yard is in the minor leagues. "Chirstmas palms" Hmmmmm..... Tropicalzone7 my Neighbor took a photo of some wall lizards in my yard yesterday. I wish I had a camera like his. He zoomed in like he was in my yard. Now I don't know if you would call this breeding but "Man" where is the privacy LOL!! Other Wall lizards are watching. Greg, the F.trachycarpus is fine. I just forgot to cover it before the big March snowstorm and the leafs had alot of snow bending them down. All my small Waggies made it also. With all the snow, the waggie behide it had a garbage can over it. Today without snow.

I hope this is a answer!lol As far as putting the palms in the ground now goes,I have not had a problem with late planting,if you mulch before the weather gets cool the soil can stay warm for quite a while.In southern Iowa where I live, soil temps don't go below 50F untill late Nov,usually,this can be inproved upon with mulch,more mulch,soil holds its warmth.The reverse is true in spring when sun is warming soil the mulch should be pulled back so soil can warm up,if you don't do this the ground will stay cold for months depending on depth of mulch you have down,but with late planting you better baby your plants through the winter big time,the lowest my trachys saw was a dry(meaning covered,no frost and dry soil) 9F.As far as keeping them in a garage,the idea is not to incourage new growth during the winter,basically to "freeze" the new growth which will be weak if they grow indoors.There is nothing wrong with growing trachys or needles indoors during the winter at all,its just that the new growth will take a beating from sun and wind,and even 30s and 40s will be chilly for them if put out in the spring.In my house with south and west windows,it really started to warm up in march and april so my trachys and other palms really started to grow again,and having just adjusted to being potted up and brought inside in the fall,they had a hard time being put out in the realitive cold of spring and stalled for a while,and the new leaves were tender early in the season,it really was'nt untill the second set of leaves came out that they started to adjust,so it makes sense if you have a garage that has stable cool temps and a little sun or at least can provide some light,that this is a easier transition in spring then going from a warm house to cool ground and cold nights right away

Sorry, I had to do that. Anyway, I have had good luck on ebay,too. I have a 4 foot coconut palm that came all the way from Puerto Rico and arrived healthy and in great condition! I also bought an Orange collar palm(good condition), a windmill(almost dead due to a mistake on my part), and a needle palm(good condition) on ebay. I like using ebay for my shopping, especially plants!