Re: Palms for zone 6
I think if you changed that to zone 7 you would still be talking about surviving the occasional winter unprotected. You really would need a hot, dry climate to get most of those to survive a true zone 7 winter and even then probably not several zone 7 winters in a row. I'd say that unprotected you'd be lucky to get Sabal minor and R. hystrix to survive but they both need lots of summer heat to thrive in the long term. I think your protection methods would have to all include heated mini greenhouses. The furthest north I've seen the following palms survive without protection are:
Nannorhops ritchianna.........Anniston, AL z8a
Washingtonia filifera............Dallas, TX 8a
Sabal 'Birmingham'...............Tulsa, OK 7a
S. palmetto.........................really 8a without protection
S. louisiana..........................maybe 7a
S. 'Brazoria'..........................maybe 7a
S. ssp. 'Tamaulipas'................maybe 7a, probably less
Trachycarpus fortunei..........maybe 7a...maybe
T. wagnerianus....................maybe 7a
T. ukhrulensis (Manipur).........UNKNOWN
T. takil................................Rome, Italy
T. nanus.............................maybe 7a
T. princeps...........................UNKNOWN
Chamaerops humilis.................Atlanta, GA 8a
C. humilis 'Volcano'..................exact same as above
C. humilis 'Cerifera'..................probalby not much more cold hardy
Trithrinax campestris...............I don't know anyone who's had one long term
That being said, I'm trying all of them here in 7a as well as a few others. I expect to lose most of them and have to protect quite a few. In zone 6 you will really have a hard time. Palms don't go dormant like bananas. You can't just pile up the mulch. I don't want to be a bummer, but I want you to have realistic expectations.
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