• Palm trees are tropical evergreen trees from the Palmae family and come in over 2,500 varieties. Though palm trees grow best in hot and humid weather, there are some cold-hardy varieties of palms as well. This makes it possible to grow palms in all the different gardening zones in the United States. The majority of palm trees are single-trunked, with fan- or feather-shaped compound foliage. Palms come in variety of shapes and forms and are well-suited for smaller or larger gardens.
  
  

Jelly Palm

• Jelly palm (Butia capitata) is a stout trunked palm with arching, curving feathery foliage. Jelly palm, also referred to as pindo palm, is a native of the South American grasslands and grows to a mature height of about 20 feet, relatively small sized than a number of its other counterparts. The light green to blue-gray foliage is 5 to 10 feet long and has spines along the edges. Jelly palm produces orange colored fruit often referred to as pindo dates. Jelly palm is hardy in USDA Zones 8 to 9 and grows best in areas of full sun to moderate shade. Plant in a well-drained, sandy soil though the tree adapts to a variety of soil types and is also very drought tolerant. Floridata site suggests using jelly palm as a lawn accent in gardens.
  
  

Windmill Palm

• Windmill palm (Trachycarpus fortune) is also referred to as chusan palm and Chinese windmill palm. The palm is among the most cold-tolerant palm trees, well adapted to growing in gardens that experience subfreezing temperatures. Windmill palm is a native of the mountainous areas of southeastern China and Taiwan and is often covered with ice and snow in its native habitat. Windmill palm is hardy in USDA Zones 7b to 10 and grows to a mature height of 20 to 40 feet with a brown or gray fiber covered trunk and light green palmate foliage. Plant in areas of partial shade and a range of well-drained soils.
  
  

Bottle Palm

• Bottle palm (Hyophorbe lagenicaulis) is a small sized palm variety with a rounded, stumpy, swollen trunk and a crown of four to eight pinnate leaves. The slow growing palm with its mature height of about 12 feet is well suited to smaller gardens and grows best in a variety of well drained soils and areas of partial sun. Bottle palm is a native of one of the Mascarene Islands in the Indian Ocean and is hardy in USDA Zones 10 to 11, not hardy to freezing temperatures. The palm produces small white flower inflorescences and 1-inch-round, green fruit that turns black as it matures.