Way too cold for palm trees in Knoxville? I think not. I have had a Windmill Palm in my yard for the past 3 1/2 years. It is planted in the ground and has never been brought indoors.
My palm is now around 3 feet tall and doing well. It does get a blanket during the coldest weather and during long bouts of cold weather. It suffered more during the winter of 2005/2006 than this past year. They get tougher as they get older.

I ordered my Windmill palm from The Nursery at Ty Ty, GA. In 2005 at one of the UT Gardens plant sales, a local gentleman offered palm trees for sale. I purchase two (Windmill and Pindo (Jelly). The Pindo did not survive, primarily due to my lack of attention. There is a Southeastern Palm Society with a local contact in Chattanooga, TN.
We who love the tropics need not be penalized. Rumor is there are palm trees growing in Rhode Island!
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I'm experimenting with Lime
I'm experimenting with Lime and Lemon trees this year. I bought one of each, in December, while in St. Augustine. They both struggled with the transition mightily. I was convinced I would lose both of them. However, they both recovered amazingly well the past three weeks. I'm crossing my fingers that a strong showing this summer/fall that they will be stronger this winter.
Maybe I'll move to the palm trees after that. . .
Cool. We had a small key
Cool. We had a small key lime tree that we kept in a huge pot. I forget what variety it was exactly, but we got it at Pope's and they said it "might" survive the winters.
The first two years we moved it into the garage for the winter. This year, we decided to set it free and see if it would make it on its own. It didn't.
I think we only ever got about ten limes from it.
In FL, we planted one and in about the third or fourth year it was absolutely loaded with hundreds, maybe thousands of limes, and they were excellent but way more than any person could ever use. (Regular limes, not key limes). We gave lots of them away and still had too many.
So I'd like to know more about your lime tees and where you got them and how it works out...
Bananas, too
It's a little too shady in my yard now due to some trees I've planted, but in 2004 my banana tree actually produced fruit:
I see Ty Ty has a Meyer's
I see Ty Ty has a Meyer's lemon tree that can survive zone 7. I'll have to look into this.
NPR interviewed a man a few
NPR interviewed a man a few days ago who said he was taking advantage of global warming by establishing an olive grove in southern England. He also had persimmon trees. It took me a bit to recognize those as he accented the first syllable on them.
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Lime trees
I bought the trees from a nursery on Anastasia Island in St. Augustine. I can't remember the name of the place. I was visiting family in FL who had two of these on her back deck. The idea of picking one off to add to my fish dishes or Tecate was too tempting to not give it a shot. I bought a "semi-dwarf" variety.
The following link is one I've been pondering using to order a Meyer's Lemon Tree.
Four Winds Growers
Palm trees are evil
Their primary purpose in life is to attract and harbor rats. You don't want them in your yard!
Too funny! Having a yard
Too funny! Having a yard with palm trees for over 17 years, the rat problem never came up. Lots of squirrels though!
Spanish swords
I don't know how to post a picture here, but my neighbor has several Spanish sword yucca plants. They look for all the world like palm trees.
I'll have to look up Spanish
I'll have to look up Spanish sword yucca. I have several yuccas and don't believe any will be the tall kind.
It looks a lot like the palm
It looks a lot like the palm in your first post, and it has many names apparently:
(link...)
Palms
I live in Houston and I have a sago palm and a windmill palm. They both need shelter from the direct midday sun in the summer. We are in a downstairs condo and the upstairs balcony protects them. I don't cover any of my plants when we go below freezing (not very often). When I was living in Knoxville my daddy told me that it's not the cold but the frost that damages plants so I never worried about things growing under the eaves or in protected areas.
Be the first one on your street to have palms in your yard.
TY-TY
I would not buy air in a jug from TY-TY. They don't what going on. About 1/2 of thier pictures on their web site are mislabeled and the zone info on the hardiness are not right either.
Here is a link to find good sources for palms:
(link...)
The Southeastern Palm
The Southeastern Palm Society is mentioned in the original post. My second palm was purchased from one of their members.
I don't know all the specifics regarding Ty-Ty. However, I purchased my first palm tree for Tennessee from them in 2004 and it is doing excellent and it was exactly as advertised.