I do remember seeing pics of people in Atlanta trying (and succeding) at overwindering Canary Island date palms in their zone 8 yards. Some were pretty big, and atlanta isnt that different in weather than you, so with protection it is worth a try. I dont think there will be any date palm that can survive a true zone 7b winter, because butias are known as the most cold tolerant feather palm, and even they need some protection (like a nice warm microclimate and mulch at the least) in a zone 7 unless you live on the zone 7-8 border.
I would go with the canary island date palm or the Phoenix Sylvestris because I have seen pretty nice sized ones of both on ebay and date palms grow pretty slow so you dont want 3 inch seedlings which might take 5+ years to become plantable.

Good luck!

Ive seen pictures of Canary Island Date palms growing in Atlanta,these pics.are on Atlanta Palms web site.It shows them installing them(very large plants) and I noticed there was no follow up pictures on how the palms are doing now.I personally called the owner of ATL Palms and he said they now found out that they get burned bad in winter and dont make enough of a recovery in summer.After a couple of years of this the palm finally dies.He told me there not in Atlanta,there in Fayitville,he also said that we were living in zone 8.This I know is not true even in Atlanta.Ive lived here for 41yrs and we are zone 7b,zone 8 starts about mid way in the state around Macon.Actually we just went up to zone 7b in the last 10yrs.Now you see some of the problems Ive had,some web sites try to rate us as zone 8.I think they do this to sell people who dont know any better,palms rated one zone warmer than we are.We get just a little to cold for alot of palms.If we was a true zone 8 we wouldent have any problem with most Phoenix palms and many others.

I've got a bargain (Home Depot end of season) sylvester planted up side of the south wall of my house. I'm hoping a sunny brick wall outside an always heated room will do the trick. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
We're living in another example of zone creep. Some sources put us in 7b, some in 8. Non of my windmills or pindos have ever shown the slightest bit of cold damage.
I have cycas revoluta that have been in the ground many years that lose their leaves about mid January and come roaring back around May.

It seems if you get below 15 think of a phoniex palm more as an experiment and expect to lose it, but protect it enough so it survives. If temps usually dont go 15 give it a try, and protect it and you might be surprised at what you see come spring.
I would rate date palms about as cold tolerant as mexican fan palms, and there are many here on this fourm who live in colder zones than us who very sucessfully grow mexican fan palms. You just need good protection like a nice microclimate, but more importantly some artifical heat so temps dont go much below freezing at any given time. I am just using x-mas lights, a frost cloth, and a garbage bin on my palms and that is already adding about 18-20F to the outdoor temp (I was extemely shocked by the warmth it gave btw).
That means when it is 5F outside in the protection it will be around 23-25 degrees. The problem is it can only fit small palms, so as it grows you would have to come up with other ideas like wrapping the trunk with bubble wrap and x-mas lights, or using heating tape (which I would try to avoid unless you are farmiliar with it).

Good luck!

I have read on here before about this heating tape on this forum.What is it,does it have live electrical wires running through it or something?Where can you get it?Would HD or L have it?I had never heared of it till I joined this Gardening forum.Oh I plan to grow the Phoenix Sylvester in pots as long as I can before sitting it out.Mabey it will help it to survive being a larger size.The reason Im trying this Is because I wont a palm that gets really big to put in my back yard,so It will get tall enough to see it over the house from the front yard.I have 7 pindos and they only get 20 to 25 feet tall,and I like the feather palms the most.Thanks for the information.

Heating tape is usually used on pipes underground so they dont freeze during the winter. Im almost postive any home improvement store has them (possibly under the plumbing or pipes aisle). It can cause fires if too much mositure gets in them, which is why I personally wouldnt use it, but if you wrap your plants well or put it in a structure and the heating tape gets no moisture you will have no problems other than the possibility of overheating.

If you want a really tall palm tree your best bet would be a windmill palm. They can get to 25 feet tall in about 20 years from a young plant, and will only need protection during the colder winters once well established. If you want a taller plant fast I would get one with at least 5-6 feet of trunk if possible. You can see some pics of windmill palms towering over 25 feet tall, but those are 50+ years old.

Pindo palms can get pretty tall too, up to 30 feet, but most of us dont have 75 years to wait!

Good luck!

Mule Palm? I don't have one but I've though about it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mule Palm

I have two Mule palms that I bought a couple of weeks ago. I can't wait to see how fast they grow, supposedly faster than pure Pindo. I bought mine from Mulepalm.com

Hey if you dont mind me asking,How much did you pay for yours?The site I went to there 40 dollars for a one gallon plus shipping.I dont know about you but this Is a lot for a one gallon plant.I looked on that mulepalm.com and I couldent find any prices.

if theres gona be any phoenix to survive in your area its gona be a pheonix canariensis. there very tough palms in my area & my area is extreme! but they survive here plus i no they will like your humidity unlike here its very dry durning summer. dates probably do better in my area but theres very few for some reason maybe becuz $$ or becuz they dont sell them @ HD or lowes! lol, goodluck!

Butiaman, they were $15 per plant plus shipping, and I had to email him about them. He usually sells wholesale so the liners are cheaper in larger quantities.