LEBANON, Tenn. (WKRN) — This summer has featured hot temperatures, tropical humidity, and the introduction of palm trees in several Middle Tennessee cities. If you didn't know what state you were in, you would probably guess Florida, Texas, or California.

The fast food chain In-N-Out has started building several locations in Middle Tennessee, and at the Lebanon locations, they have planted their signature crossed palm trees.

You are probably wondering if these tropical trees can survive the Tennessee winter.

News 2 spoke with Jessica Needham-Scales, one of the owners of Needham's Nursery in Mt. Juliet, to see if these trees stand a chance.

She said that unless our winter is extremely mild, the trees will not be green by spring.

"For several years, I tried to plant palm trees in front of the nursery here, and on occasion they would survive when we had a really mild winter, but every year, pretty much they died," Needham-Scales told News 2.

Needham-Scales said Tennessee's climate is too cold to support palm trees, and in recent winters, even plants that are supposed to live here were damaged or killed by the extreme cold.

"When it drops down to the negative below zero and it stays for several days on end without peaking back up during the daytime, that's when you call it a deep polar vortex freeze, and it just kills everything," said Needham-Scales.

The temperature in Nashville has dropped below zero in two out of the last three winters. The mercury dropped to -1° in 2022 and 2024. Before 2022, the last time Nashville dropped below zero was in 1996!

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/tn-palm-trees/