I have learned after many years, the disposable option is teh way to go. WIth all of the cheap plants at Home Depot and COSTCO etc.. not worth the buggy, brown troubled mess all winter.

If you do go with a keeper, I would definitely leave it in its pot and then just sink the pot into the planter pot on the deck. That way in the fall , if you do want to take the plant in, you just lift the plant and pot out, blast off the pot and leaves with the hose and then bring inside!

Majesty palms are a good choice as well as giant white bird of paradise.

good luck!

Boca Joe

I suggest you plant a windmill palm or pindo or sabal all are winter hardy n zone 8

My favorite palms for that extra tropical look would have to be Syagrus (Queen palm), followed by Phoenix roebelini (Pygmy date), and maybe Phoenix canariensis. All would have to be protected from frost. I overwinter my queens in the garage (they are tall so the house is out of the question, and also they DO NOT get buggy if kept cool and humid over the winter. What I like about the Pygmy is that it looks like the stereotypical palm tree (trunking and feathery fronds)--but one a small, manageable, containerized scale. The canariensis is cold hardier but can be prickly sharp and more Mediterranean-looking than tropical but they are massive palms and very robust (but need hard frost protection). If I had to choose one, I'd pick the Queen palm and worry about raising the roof for this big boy.--If you can only overwinter in the house,I would go with larger Pygmy dates. Good luck!

My Pygmy Dates and Queen palm have made it outdoors here planted in the ground without damage for 8 years...until this winter. We had a record 13 nights, straight, below freezing. They are very badly burned.
Its too early to tell yet if one of the Pygmy Dates is dead, it still has one green frond. The Queen may be okay too, have to wait and see. When spring really comes, I'll go out and test the last emergent frond. If it doesn't pull out, I'll know they are still viable and I need to wait. Same with most of the Pygmy dates, except the one lucky guy.

In contrast, my Pindos, Mediteranean Fans, Sabals and my Needle Palms are all intact, not even leaf burn. I would recommend those to you for container palms for your deck. The Needle is the hardiest, it will survive temps below zero. The only problem is, large specimens can be hard to locate and expensive. All of mine are over 20 years old.

I have a few Saribus palms planted out, they are very hardy, but the leaves always burn in a hard freeze so they look unsightly for a bit.

Bihai, I agree that Pindos, Med. Fans, Sabal and Needles are MUCH hardier than Queens and Pygmy Dates but the poster expressed the desire to plant in containers (not in the ground) and I'm sure even these would suffer some in a container in a zone 8 winter (unless protected)--containers are just MUCH colder than the ground. So, if the poster is going to have to protect anyway, he/she might as well consider something that is much more tropical-looking and faster growing. Of course, if the poster is willing to plant in the ground and be patient, then they can consider Sabals (especially like S.mexicana), Chamaerops, Raphidophyllum (Needles) or a Pindo (Butia capitata). I wish you luck with the Bihai, I had spear pull on one two years ago but it has since completely recuperated. First summer season was disappointing but last summer it took off and even flowered. Time will tell. Good luck!

why waste plant dollars on 'disposable' plants, even in containers?
Dollars are dollars.
Why not get the most for your dollar?
And why fuel the market for 'disposable' plants? All that does is drive the cost of all plants up over time.

And I do know the botanical names for my palms, LOL.

Whatever. I am of the school that a life is a life, and nothing should be 'disposable'. There are plants meant to last one season (they are called ANNUALS) but palm trees are not annuals. Good luck.

What if a palm is kept outdoors (Z8, Z9) in a large enough container (15, 25, 45 gallon)? Will it survive the freeze being in that massive container? I see palms left in such containers in nurseries in Z8 survive all winter. Probably even Z7B.

Depends on the species, some are very cold tolerant, others wouldn't survive Z10. You also need to remember that in the ground plant roots are fairly well insulated if the ground isn't too wet. The cold can only penetrate from the top. In a pot the cold penetrates all around.

a needle of a fortuni, somthing like that would make it easy and you could keep them growing for years in pots