• California fan palms do not tolerate much winter cold in Texas.palm image by koko300 from Fotolia.com
  
  Only in the warmest parts of Texas will palm trees species that develop a trunk grow outdoors with little effort. In U.S. Department of Agriculture hardiness zones 7 through 9, several palms grow well in Texas, but must be planted to minimize any potential damage to fronds and growing tips from winter frosts and freezes. The closer you live to the Gulf Coast and Brownsville, the more species of palm trees you can grow.
  
  

Windmill Palm

• Windmill palms (Trachycarpus spp.) are the most cold-tolerant of trunked palm trees in Texas, surviving in areas where the winter temps do not drop below 5 degrees Fahrenheit. Native to mountainous regions of eastern China, windmill palms have a thatch-covered trunk and deep green fan-shaped fronds. Kim Etheridge of the Galveston County Master Gardeners mentions that windmill palms need full sun exposure, but in the hottest parts of southern Texas should receive some shade in the afternoon.
  
  

Pindo Palm

• Pindo palm (Butia capitata) is also called jelly palm and hails from southern South America. In Texas, this palm is grown with success in sunny locales where the winter low temps do not drop below 10 degrees. Pindo palm's fronds are feathery and somewhat curving, ranging in color from silvery blue-gray to olive green.
  
  

Washingtonia Palm

• A steadfast landscape palm for southern California, Arizona and central Florida, the Washingtonia palm (Washingtonia filifera) is also called the Mexican fan palm. Fast-growing with a tall, slender trunk often covered in thatch and old palm stem sheaths, the oldest dead fronds persist and droop down like a petticoat. Mexican fan palms tolerate winter cold down to 10 to 15 degrees well, but California fan palm (Washingtonia robusta), also called Washingtonia palm, grows only where the temperature remains above 15 to 20 degrees in winter. Both palms produce fan-like green fronds.
  
  

Mediterranean Fan Palm

• This slow-growing palm is the only palm native to Europe. Mediterranean fan palm (Chamaerops humilis) looks great in a container or in the ground, but sustains leaf damage when the temperature drops below 5 degrees. It appreciates lots of sunlight and heat in summer as long as the soil is well-drained and never soggy. The gray green, fan-like fronds have spines on their stem petioles.
  
  

Cabbage Palm

• Cabbage palm (Sabal palmetto) is native to the warm coastal plain of the American Southeast and grows nicely in Texas where winters aren't colder than 10 degrees for more than a brief period. This palm can retain its boots (cross-hatched leaf bases) on its trunk or drop them with great age to expose a gray trunk. Texas sabal (Sabal texana) grows best in South Texas but is more shrub-like, never forming any above-ground trunk.
  
  

Date Palms

• In counties along the Gulf of Mexico, various species of date palms (Phoenix spp.) are grown with ease. Four species of these feather-frond palm trees are grown in Texas, where winters are never colder than 15 to 20 degrees in the winter. Hot summer weather and dry soil in winter is best for date palms. Canary Island date palm (Phoenix canariensis) the edible date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) make imposing plants with tall trunks and a massive mop of fronds. Where the temperature is never below 20 degrees, Texan palm enthusiasts may grow toddy palm (Phoenix sylvestris) and Cretin palm (Phoenix theophrasti). Pygmy date palm (Phoenix roebellenii) is appropriate only for areas around Corpus Christi.
  
  

Parlor Palms

• According to "Hardy Palms for the Southeast," two species of parlor palms (Chamaedorea spp.) can be grown outdoors in Texas. In shaded spots near building foundations or under large trees where the winter low does not drop below 25 degrees, you can grow Chamadorea microspadix and Chamaedorea radicalis. Leaves are burned when the temperature dips even further to 15 degrees and must rejuvenate the next spring.