John, I thought of that palm but wondered about the lack of sunlight all winter long. What do you think of those conditions Rhizo, that's why I suggested that a Pindo be planted in a raised bed affording good drainage. I think it would be fine in a protected location with little direct sunlight, as long as it isn't sitting there all winter with wet feet. I'd also recommend that they start with the largest specimen that their budget will allow. Will a Pindo provide a tall enough canopy to sit/walk under? No, not for many, many years, unless you're willing to spend big $$$ for a huge specimen that would most likely have to be professionally installed. The best trunking cold hardy palm that will grow quickly would be a windmill (Trachycarpus fortunei), and it would indeed be more forgiving of your winter low light conditions. Two other bush, shrub type palms that would still give you a tropical look would be a sabal minor or a needle palm (Rhapidophyllum hystrix). They're not trunking, but are extremely cold hardy & would still thrive in spite of a lack of wintertime direct sunlight. If you decide to visit ColdPalms as Rhizo suggested, I would strongly recommend that you take along a good picture of the area you're wanting to landscape & of course detail the growing conditions to them as you have here. They're very knowledgeable about palms & have a huge inventory to choose from. I'm sure they would be able to help you select the right one for your location.

I have a 15 foot queen palm in the ground in the Virginia Beach area. This will be winter #2 for it. It survived 10 degrees several times last year with only damage to the outermost leaf edges (which of course took all damn summer before it finally looked better) by wrapping in plastic (basically big Saran wrap), then a long rope light (135 watts total) wound all the way to the top, then 2 plastic yard waste bags over the bundled top, and then plastic wrap again. I only turn on the lights sub-35 degrees. When I had a 10-day forecast that didn't include any sub-30 overnight lows I unwrapped it so it could get some fresh air, and then re-wrapped when sub-30 approached again. I have a Key Lime tree (winter #2) that survived with C9 christmas lights and 2 plastic yard bags, with a few 50 watt floodlights around the base. It was even flowering already by late February so it couldn't have been THAT miserable. I took the bag off when conditions were nice but then just put it back on when the going got rough. Currently I am getting a 7-foot lemon, 5-foot grapefruit, 8-foot cavendish banana, majesty palms, and pineapples (all those in the ground), papayas, avocados, and guava (little ones) through the winter in a temporary greenhouse structure heated mostly with floodlights but with extra electric heating when needed. It is maintained above 35. Oh and btw - I have always found the whole soaking avocados in water/toothpick thing to be completely unnecessary. I just shove the seed 2 inches deep into a 1-gallon pot of potting soil and leave it outside in the summer. In 3 weeks it's a 1-foot tall tree, 95% of the time. I have lost many to squirrels though - who don't know the seed is there until the plant comes up. Chicken wire may be needed. I even had one that I dropped in the kitchen and it split in half. My wife made me dig it out of the garbage and plant the halves. Whaddya know - each one grew into a tree. Soon. Oh and rather than buying avocados for seeds - ask a mexican restaurant if they'll save some for you. I'll bet an average mexican restaurant generates at least 50 seeds a day although a lot may be hacked up (but obviously splitting them in half doesn't stop anything!)

The powerpoint presentation he gave is available online in PDF format. I've included a link to the pdf below. If you have any questions about the info in the pdf I might be able to clarify so please ask. Here is another link with lots of useful info. http://trec.ifas.ufl.edu/index.shtml At the TREC website you can find tons of info on tropical fruit growing. Here is a link that might be useful: Cold Protection Presentation

My point is that particular setup can only be depended on to help reduce salt spray and sun scald damage. It does not provide enough of a "micro-climate" effect to be apparent over and above the natural variability of one winter over another. In some instances, burlap can help reduce drying as a result of consistently windy conditions but as designed, that arrangement wouldn't be a substantial help (doesn't provide enough protection to be apparent over year to year variability). You may choose to disagree but I can assure you that any plants that actually require a 1/2 or full zone increase that a well designed micro-climate can provide, will be indifferent to that meager burlap screen. I will concede some effect but is 1/4 or 1/8 of a zone increase of any benefit at all one year to the next?