What could be more exotic in the northern New Jersey climate than having a palm tree in your landscape?
There are a few varieties of palm trees that will love the summer sun but are extremely cold hardy as well. The Windmill Palm and Sabal Minor (or Dwarf Palmetto) are two such examples.
Both offer frond-like fanning leaves, and the Sabal also bears yellow flowers.
Easy to grow in a variety of soils these palms can be built into a landscape with other plants or be very splashy on their own.
Just don’t forget to protect your new plant from frost for the first few years. Provide some type of insulating ground cover from the first frost until spring and there is no reason you can’t have a tropical paradise in New Jersey!