How far north do palm trees grow?
How far north do palm trees grow? Wild palms in the US stop around the North Carolina coast. A planted Chinese windmill palm (Trachycarpus fortunei) can live outside near 5F, so Seattle works and Nashville usually doesn't.
I know that sounds backwards at first. You'd think farther south would always be easier, but Nashville gets a lot colder than Seattle even though it sits well below it on the map. If you're trying to plant one in a yard, the winter low is the number that actually matters.
Why Nashville is harder than Seattle
Seattle sits way up around 47N, but it only gets down to about 18F most winters. Nashville is a lot farther south and still sees about 3F. That's why I'd plant windmill and European fan palm in Seattle, and why the Washington guide has a pretty decent outdoor list if you want to poke around. In Nashville I'd stick with needle palm and keep the rest in pots. The Tennessee guide walks through that if you want to compare cities.
USDA 2023 is really just a nickname for that winter low. The little tag on a box-store pot often came from a milder coast, so I don't put a lot of weight on it.
There's a 2018 paper in Scientific Reports that looks at where palms can reproduce on their own. They put that limit around a coldest-month average of 36F. That's a different question than whether you can plant one and keep it alive. Washington, D.C. is a little too cold for palms to go wild, but people still have planted windmills sitting on the Mall.
Wild palms and the ones we plant
European fan palm (Chamaerops humilis) is the one that actually grows wild in Italy, around 44N. Kew lists it as the only palm native to mainland Europe. That coast is cool and wet, but it's still nothing like an Ohio January.
Cabbage palmetto (Sabal palmetto) is our northern tree palm. The Forest Service has it along the coast up to Cape Fear, and there's a leftover group at Cape Hatteras. The North Carolina guide is a good place to see how different the coast is from Asheville. Dwarf palmetto (Sabal minor) is a shrub that makes it into Virginia and Oklahoma, and needle palm grows in Southeast river bottoms. None of those are native to New York or Seattle, which is the question a lot of people are actually asking.
People plant windmill a lot farther north than any of that. You'll see it in Vancouver and Britain, and some folks are even trying it in the Faroe Islands. Windmill doesn't mind cool summers, which is a big part of why it works there. Some of those trees get wrapped on the worst nights, and that's a lot of extra work. I wouldn't count a wrapped palm as a normal outdoor plant.
What I'd actually plant
The chart below will give you a good idea of some palms you can plant that will survive farther north, in colder winters. The temps come from the species pages. If your winter drops below that number, I'd keep that one in a pot.
| Palm | About | Try it here |
|---|---|---|
| Needle palm | 0F | Nashville, Boston, a sheltered New York yard |
| Dwarf palmetto | 0F | Same winters as needle. Stays a shrub |
| Chinese windmill palm | 5F | Seattle, Portland, D.C. New York if you really stay above 5F |
| European fan palm | 12F | Seattle, Portland, D.C. Not Nashville |
| Cabbage palmetto | 15F | Wilmington and the Carolina coast. Native there |
A few more cities might help this make sense. New York City is about 8F on the New York guide, so needle and dwarf palmetto should do alright there, and windmill is only worth a try if you've got a sheltered spot. Chicago gets down around -7F, which is really an indoor winter. Portland is about 18F, a lot like Seattle, while Bend is way colder. That's Oregon in two cities if you want to see how much the state can change.
If you're looking up your own city, palm trees by state is the easiest place to start, and the species pages live under palm tree types.
What the box store will try to sell you
The box store will still try to sell you a queen palm, a coconut palm, or a majesty palm in places they won't live. Queen wants about 25F, coconut wants about 35F, and majesty usually dies the first time it actually freezes. They'll sit those right next to the hardy fans in zone 7. I wouldn't buy them for the yard. If the tag says zone 7 and it's a queen, that tag probably came from a milder coast. Wrapping isn't going to save a coconut.
Questions
What is the northernmost native palm?
European fan palm, on the Italian coast, around 44N. In the US, cabbage palmetto is the northern tree palm. It follows the Carolina coast.
Can palm trees grow in New York City?
You can, if you mean needle or dwarf palmetto. New York City is about 8F. Windmill is only worth it in a sheltered spot that stays above about 5F. Queen and coconut should stay inside.
Can palm trees grow in Seattle?
Yes. Seattle is about 18F, so I'd plant windmill and European fan there. It's farther north than Nashville and a lot milder.