Sabal Minor & Needle palm are hardy to semi hardy, especially near the ocean in the Boston area. My problem with these two; they are extremely slow growing as smaller plants, and it may take years for them to look like real fan palms. You might have to buy very large/mature specimens- which can be costly if shipped- or travel south to purchase them- and then harden them off the first few winters.

Trachycarpus although slightly less hardy grow far quicker, and can become partially naturalized if given winter protection. Winter protection for the other species is also a good idea.

Palmlover, have you tried musa basjoo banana? Hardy in Boston (and farther north) with protection.Very tropical looking and grows fast for some height during the growing season.Easy to overwinter in the ground.

Dragontek is right that sabal minor and needle palm are semi-hardy but will not look very good come spring unless given protection. Trachycarpus is definitely the best palm for your area. Even if damaged, it will recover much better than the other 2 types. I have a sabal minor in ground that did not receive any protection last winter, and is still alive, but all leaves were burnt off. It has now started to grow again, but all the leaves were burnt off my trachy as well, and it has been growing since April, and is working on its 3rd leaf, while the sabal minor is only working on its first leaf. My needle palm is just now starting to show signs of growth.

Musa basjoo is supposed to be hardy with protection in zone 6, but I haven't had any luck for the last 2 years in overwintering it, even though our low this past winter was only zero degrees. It seems not everybody has success overwintering them.

Would a Washingtonia Robusta do well if potted and brought inside during the winter?

Yes it would! A loooot of people do this, and you can even burry the pot in the ground during the summer to make it appear to be growing out of the ground!

I love washingtonias.

Isslandbreeze, I have the same situation with the trachys in zone6. Really protected them in a leaf enclosure, but all leaves died (plus spear pull). It they are now regrowing, but the prospect of them turning into large palms is doubtful.Sorry to hear of your luck with basjoo, as I know people in zone five that overwinter them. Did you totally cover them?

Nucci, the only thing i did for protection with my windmill this past winter is covering with a large clear plastic bag. Since the palm dealt with zero degrees, all of the foliage burnt right down to the spear, but at least it didn't suffer spear pull, which probably gave it a head start. This past winter was the third winter in ground, and it has noticeably gained trunk height since planted 4 years ago. I moved it each summer in an attempt to find the best location for it, and I think I finally found it. Full sun, raised well draining location have helped to speed up its growth. In its old location it was only in part sun and only grew about 5 fronds a season, but so far this year, it has already grown 3, granted the first one was stunted, but 3 nonetheless. I see at least 8 fronds this summer as a definite possibility.

As far as the basjoo, Yes, last year I did the leaf cage method then covered with a tarp. This past year I mulched, then put styrofoam boxes around the trunk, then piled paper yard waste bags filled with leaves around the stacked foam boxes, then covered all that with a tarp. I planted them in the same location, on a raised mound in full sun. The only thing i can think of is that the location is in the rear of the yard, which slopes down from the house, so maybe the raised mound is absorbing moisture from the low ground and therefore rotting the corm.