Pasco County is the northern edge of the palm belt. Wesley Chapel, Land O' Lakes, Lutz, Trinity, New Port Richey and Hudson all sit in USDA zone 9b, with open inland pastures and low spots that behave like 9a on a still, clear night. Palms absolutely belong here. You just have to choose the ones that were built for it.
What a Pasco winter actually does
Most years the coldest night lands somewhere in the low 30s and the only casualties are annuals and the neighbor's coconut palm experiment. Every few years a dry Arctic front pushes lows into the upper 20s across Wesley Chapel and New Port Richey, and inland pockets along the Anclote River and around the Land O' Lakes chain of lakes dip lower. Cold air drains downhill and pools on open ground, so a palm at the bottom of a sloping lot beside a retention pond sees colder temperatures than the same palm beside a south-facing garage wall. Duration matters as much as the number: a long night in the upper 20s does more damage than a brief dip a few degrees lower.
The palms that never flinch
- ✓Sabal palm (cabbage palm). Native, hardy well below 20 degrees, and the palm that defines old Florida along the Pithlachascotee River. Field-grown sabals transplant well and are sold by trunk height.
- ✓Pindo palm. Hardy into the teens, silver-blue fronds, a mature height around 15 to 20 feet, and slow enough to sit beside a house for decades. The best small-yard palm in Pasco County.
- ✓European fan palm. A clumping, shrubby fan palm hardy into the low teens. Great in a bed or as a courtyard specimen, and it rarely needs more than an occasional cleanup.
- ✓Needle palm and dwarf palmetto. Both are native shrub palms hardy far colder than anything Florida will throw at them. Use them under oaks and in shady, damp corners where nothing else works.
- ✓Saw palmetto. The native ground-level palm, including the silver form. Indestructible in sun and sand.
The palms that give you the tropical look and still take the cold
- ✓Sylvester palm. Cold hardy into the low 20s, silver-green crown, diamond-cut trunk. The most planted statement palm from Wesley Chapel down to Tampa for good reason.
- ✓Canary Island date palm. Similar hardiness with a much larger footprint. For big lots in Odessa, Land O' Lakes and rural Pasco.
- ✓Mule palm. The pindo and queen hybrid that looks like a queen palm and handles cold like a pindo. If you want the feathery look in New Port Richey or Hudson, this is the safest way to get it.
- ✓Chinese fan palm. Hardy to around 20 degrees, with big glossy fan leaves that droop at the tips. Slow, tidy, and happy in part shade.
- ✓Washingtonia palm. Hardy to around 20 degrees, very fast, very tall. Use it where it has room to become a 50-foot column.
- ✓Medjool and other true date palms. Hardy into the teens, gray-green, and drought tolerant. Less common in nurseries here but a strong choice for a dry, sunny lot.
The palms that are a gamble
Queen palms are everywhere in Pasco County and most of them are fine most winters, with burned fronds after the bad ones. Plant them if you accept that. Bismarck palms are gorgeous and hardy to around 20 degrees once established, but young ones are more tender, so buy a larger one and protect it the first two winters. Pygmy date palms burn in the mid-20s but usually recover.
Foxtail, coconut, royal, Christmas, areca, bottle and spindle palms are South Florida palms. In Wesley Chapel or New Port Richey they are a countdown. Windmill palms, on the other hand, are extremely cold hardy but hate our wet summer heat; they survive in Spring Hill and Brooksville with afternoon shade and sharp drainage, but we do not push them.
Planting for cold in Pasco County
- ✓Site palms on the south or east side of the house, near walls, pavement or a pool that store daytime heat.
- ✓Stay out of the lowest part of the lot and away from open pasture edges where cold air settles.
- ✓Plant in spring or early summer so roots are established before the first winter.
- ✓Water the day before a freeze. Moist soil holds more heat than dry sand.
- ✓Wrap the trunk and bud of a young palm in frost cloth or burlap on the coldest nights and take it off in the morning.
- ✓Leave burned fronds on until new growth appears in spring; they protect the bud.
- ✓Fertilize with a slow-release palm fertilizer in spring and summer, not in late fall, so you are not pushing soft growth into a freeze.
What about Spring Hill and Hernando County?
Spring Hill, Brooksville and Weeki Wachee sit on the line between 9a and 9b, and the coldest nights there run a few degrees below Wesley Chapel. The first list above, sabal, pindo, European fan, needle palm and saw palmetto, is the backbone of a Hernando County yard. Sylvester, Canary Island date, mule and Chinese fan palms still do well, but buy them larger, site them against the house and cover them the first couple of winters. Treat queens as a short-term plant there, and leave the South Florida palms in Tampa.
What cold-hardy palms cost
Palms are quoted by size, delivered and planted, with the equipment to set a field-grown specimen, staking and the first watering included. Every order has a $500 minimum, and Pasco County addresses carry a trip charge that we quote by county. Prices may differ, so request a quote for your exact number.
Plan a palm with the Tampa Bay team
Our Tampa Bay crew plants throughout Pasco and Hernando, from Wesley Chapel and Land O' Lakes to New Port Richey, Trinity, Hudson and Spring Hill. Tell us the lot, the exposure and the look you want, and we will match a palm that is still standing after the next hard winter. Call or text (239) 799-5594.