I had somebody tell me once that palms are growing in the ozarks (missouri arkansas border)sounded a little hard to believe,but I did come across a sight(doing cold hardy palms research)that had pictures of palms, (sabals,not sure what kind)that sure enough, are growing wild in a few different stands in the ozarks along the Mo. Ar. border farthest north I,ve heard of growing "wild"

The furthest confirmed natural population is in Eastern NC. However you can find them growing in the wild on the bottom tip of the Delmarva Peninsula but most people believe that they escaped into the wild from cultivated plants.

I know for a fact they grow wild as far north as little rock ar. Down here where we are they grow wild.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.amazinggardens.com/arkansas.html

tr...I mean topher those pictures look very similar to pics I saw of sabals growing in the ozarks on MO/ AR border about the same age and same growing conditions they also looked like minors

The Delmarva peninsula? Wow that pretty far north. Considering Sabal minor doesn't tend to be invasive and fast growing, and that it's only been in cultivation for 150 years(?) it doesn't seem like it could have naturalized that quickly. Anyone have any photos of these specimens? Also, there are S. minor native to Oklahoma.

Good information everyone! Thanks!

Sabal Minor before the ice age hit may have lived as far north on the coast as New England. Here in Northern Virginia we are helping to spread seeds to repopulate old Sabal Minor territory. All except Sabal Minor "Louisiana" seem fully hardy here as Sabal Louisiana takes noticable frond damage during the winter.

I too have only seen them growing as far North as Little Rock, Ar.- seems to be a line across the South, from Ok. to the coast. I live in N.E. Texas (90 miles or so from Ar. border) and even here, though plentifull, are starting to get farther and fewer between. We have dense stands of them in the swamp bottoms- 100 miles South of here, they are weeds!

S. minors in Arkansas are south of Little Rock by at least 40 miles. They do not exist naturally north of Little Rock so the Ozarks claim in invalid. Read about my state's native palms here:

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.midsouthpalms.com/ARminors.htm

They exist in a "natural" state naturally anywhere they exist.

That's funny, Jim. LOL. Let me rephrase: They do not grow in the forests in the Ozarks unless someone planted them there or they sprouted from seed from a nearby source such as someone growing a sabal in their yard. :)

Glad to hear there is some native Ozark palms.

With the wide availability of seeds for the new cold hardy variety of sabal minor from the Weiss Lake area in AL, it is possible that there could be populations established further north and/or further inland.

Southern MO, the bootheel in particular, wouldn't be off the table. The Weiss Lake variety may unseat the McCurtain variety as the most cold hardy since it comes from a zone 7b area instead of 8a.

There are some areas of the bootheel considered 7b and most of the rest is 7a, with both zones having enough summer heat to allow recovery from a below average winter. Even surviving the record lows in these areas is not something that hasn't already been reported.

This is an old thread, BUT, there IS a Sabal Minor "McCurtain" that I am PRETTY sure is growing in Oklahoma. It is said to be super hardy, I have NO idea IF that is true though. I tried one BUT I am in zone 6a Pa, and I had NO greenhouse back then, I would LOVE to try one NOW in my greenhouse in a pot.

I am in zone 6a, so, I would need to make a shelter with heat for one IF I did plant one in the ground. I would keep it in my greenhouse heated until it got some decent size to it. Thanks for the video. I have 2 Trachys in my GH now in pots a Trachy Fort and a Trachy Waggy.

Has anyone else seen or at least heard about the wild Hardin County, TN Sabal minor population? Even I hadn't known until last night, although I wasn't surprised. I was expecting them to be in Marion, Bradley or Polk County rather than Hardin County, but that was on the basis of their presence around Weiss Lake in Alabama and Georgia and the fact that they probably wouldn't go unnoticed in Shelby or Hamilton County. I already knew that we have nearly identical ecology, climatology and geology to parts of their native range with no obstacle to prevent their natural entry, not to mention them being native to Oklahoma and probably Virginia and close to Tennessee in four separate states (Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas). Unlike the Oklahoma and Virginia dwarf palmettos, the Tennessee ones are even in plain sight; someone else made a thread on PalmTalk about it, too.

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.138441,-88.2522552,3a,50.4y,164.06h,70.11t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sLQiHGGURGiyaDLjPEB0XaQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656