I became rabidly interested in bamboo a few years ago after a trip to coastal New Jersey. I saw towering 40-foot bamboo that looked like it was in a Southeast Asian jungle (lol). Since then, I have done a bit of research on were it grows along the East Coast/Atlantic States. I live along the Connecticut coast (zone 7) about 1 Âmile from Long Island Sound/7 miles from Long Island. NY. I have several types growing, some of which are now 40 feet tall and 3.5 inches in diameter. I can only tell you what I have observed. It seems Massachusetts (excluding the Cape and Islands) is about the line where bamboo starts to struggle. In my travelers up and down the East Coast I have seen many stands of towering bamboo that stay green all winter in New Jersey, southern Connecticut, NYC metro, Delaware, MarylandÂect. Yet once into Massachusetts or New York State much above NYCÂ. while bamboo will often survive the winter - it gets tougher for it to stay green all winter. I have even read that in places where bamboo loses its leaves every winter and some clums are killed it never really sizes up. There was a place near Rockport. MA called New England Bamboo that I would often visit in early spring (March or April) a few years back. Although most bamboo stands to the south were all green on the drive up (including my own)Âthe bamboo on the grounds of New England Bamboo was often straw yellow with many dead clums. I donÂt think there is a clumping bamboo that will stay green all winter in zone 6. Running bamboo" is often significantly more cold hardy than "clumping bamboo". Perhaps others on the board have more info about cold hardy clumpers. I think your two best choices would be Phyllostachys "decora or nuda. Both are very cold hardy and will give you the best chance to have green foliage throughout winter. Phyllostachys "aureosulcata" is also a good choice. There is even a good source down here in coastal Connecticut that sells Phyllostachys "aureosulcata very cheap ($40 for 10-12 foot bamboo plants). New England Bamboo is up in Rockport, MA (northeast of you), although they are quite pricey. Based on the size of the area you have, you might want to install a rhizome barrier (root barrier) to keep the bamboo right in that spot. This process involves digging down about 24 - inches in a circular fashion creating a ring around the grove (leave about ½ inch above ground). This way you can spot any runners that attempt to dive over the barrier. Once the barrier is installed you can enjoy the vigor or running bamboo wih the worry of it spreading to areas you donÂt want it in. Good Luck.

Joe, I live in the Myrtle Beach area also (Murrells Inlet). I have been growing different types of palms from seed for a while now. The trouble with palms are that the fast growing ones are not native to this area thus they have many problems such as cold in winter months, too humid in summer months. I would still recommend the washingtonia robusta (mexican fan palm), or the washingtonia filifera (california fan palm) they are the 2 fastest growing palms for this area with the robusta being the fastest. However the robusta is more sensitive to the cold so you must be prepared to protect it, especially while it is young, (would make a nice container palm for a couple of years). Now the filifera is more cold tolerant than the robusta but you need to remember it grows in a dry arid climate so it struggles with funggal attacks while it is young in our hot humid climate we have. The filifera grows somewhat slower than the robusta and you will still need to offer some protection while it is young from both cold and humidity. Pindo's grow slow but will not be hurt by our cold and after some time they can get to 20' tall. Sabal's are easy to grow from seed as well but will take some time to look like a palm. I am not an expert just some stuff that I have picked up from this board, I hope it helps. David Stallard

Maxcat I agree sand is the key i was losing lots of palms to moisture rot here in zone 8a just more less putting them in potting mix and perlite but i started adding 80 % sand 20 % potting mix and all my palms are growing great ! And i also have noticed they're not turning brown on the tips anymore.

Musa basjoo is the only banana that will survive your winters with no protection. They dont usually look out of place with native trees and they go great with cannas and elepahant ears. Needle palms are your best bet for a cold hardy palm. If you get a large one you wont need to protect it too much. This winter got to 14F by me, but I got lots of snow. My needle palm got no protection and its still doing good. Windmill palms can handle 5 and will need protection in your area during the first winters, but they can get pretty tall (maybe up to 20 feet in 20 years from a nice sized plant. I have a pindo palm, its a really tropical looking palm but only cold tolerant to 15F before damage really begins so it will need protection especially when it rains in the winter. If you plant them right it will look really good with your tropical plants. It seems like your shrubs kind of have a little english style to it, and windmill palms as well as needle palms are seen in english gardens (and I can picture some knockout roses under a windmill palm, but it will be hard to protect) Southern magnolias are also good tropical trees and will survive your winters fine. They do great here, only disappointing thing was that since they are evergreen trees, one of them did lose a huge limb from the heavy snow this year, but all the others were fine and snow like that is rare. Also there are hardy hibiscus that have the same great flowers as the tropical ones in the summer months, and lose there leaves for the winter. They will never have a problem from the cold in your winters and some of them can handle zone 4 winters. There are so many more tropical plants that can live in your zone and many can fit in your landscape well. The palms and cycads forum, this forum, and the bananas forum are some forums that have people that are growing some nice tropical plants in cooler zones like zone 7s and even cooler. Good luck.