Palm trees in Canada? It's possible, says this London, Ont., man

The trees he sells might be $300 each, but Mark Trainor says the idea of lounging poolside in Canada with palm trees in his own backyard is priceless. 

"It's amazing," he said. "You really get a tropical feel in your yard, especially when it's warm in the summertime." 

Trainor works at a technology company in London, Ont., but his side hustle is importing palm trees and other exotic plants from the Southern United States. This spring will be his third year in business, and he said since the COVID-19 pandemic started, he's sold hundreds of trees all over Canada through his website exoticplants.ca.

"This year, we already have hundreds of orders in place, and it usually picks up speed in March and April, so this year is, by far, going to be our biggest season," he said. 

Trainor and his customers are part of a growing trend gardeners call "zone pushing," a phrase used to describe growing plants in a garden that, under generally accepted theory, should not survive because of the plant hardiness zone. 

Some of the plants Trainor sells can withstand temperatures as low as -10C, but not all can. Zone pushers get around old man winter by using little tricks, such as incandescent Christmas lights used to generate heat, insulated boxes and switches triggered by temperature sensors to keep the plants toasty warm, even in the depths of a Canadian winter. 

"You can push things a zone here and there, but there's the extreme zone pushers, who I think, take it to the limit," said Jim Stinson, the assistant garden centre manager at Canadale Nurseries in St. Thomas, Ont.

The family-run garden business sells tropical plants and will offer advice to zone pushers looking for ways to keep the chill at bay from plants that don't take well to it. He said in the last few years, he's had a number of customers looking for tips and tricks on how to grow tropical plants that really shouldn't grow here.

"It is a lot of work and I don't think it's for everybody," he said. "A palm tree from Florida won't survive here in Canada, because it's generally not hardy enough to survive in our zone."

"It is possible, but it's not easy and it's for those people who really want to go to the extreme."

Trainor disagrees, saying the boxes he's built in his backyard are cheap and easy to make. Still, he said he knows keeping palm trees outdoors all year isn't for everyone, which is why he's been experimenting with easier ways to make sure the plants can survive Canada's rugged winters. 

"Some people are going to see these boxes and say 'I'm not in for that,'" he said. "I'm testing other ways of protecting the palm trees." 

This year he's auditioning different types of insulated covers that use zippers to open and close, instead of power tools. 

"The benefit is I'm not really building anything," he said. "On warmer days I can just unzip it and if you put your hand in there you can feel it's kind of warm."