PALMS!

A great deal of my time is spent taking my Papillon, Steve, on long walks through the neighborhoods that branch out in every direction from where I live on SE Morrison St. In fact, when people ask my what I do in my free time, "walk my dog" is always my first answer. I have noticed that there are a lot of palm trees and palm type plants in the area. This surprised me when I first moved to Portland, because just a few hours north in NW Washington, a palm tree wouldn't have much of a fighting chance of surviving. After doing some reading on the Portland Nursery website, I learned that Hardy Palms are varieties of Palms that can survive when temperatures drop from as low as 20 F - 0 F depending on the variety. During an extra cold spell, wrapping the plant in burlap can give it some extra protection. Despite their hardiness in cold weather, they still thrive in lots of sunshine, and our clay rich soil require some extra prep. But, as I have witnessed, palms can thrive here in Portland....and I LOVE them!!!! My only confusion is to why EVERY yard doesn't have a palm or two. If you can make a tropical little space in Portland, why wouldn't you?!?!
http://www.portlandnursery.com/plants/shrubs-vines/palms.shtml
Here are some of palms I saw while walking Steve this morning.