The hardiest crownshafted palm i know of is Archontophoenix cunninghamiana but it would likely get fried by Arizona's dry heat, worth a try though.
How about Parajubaea, Jubaea chillensis, Butia, Beccariophoenix alfredii, Trachycarpus, Phoenix reclinata, and Sabal.
If you have pics of your yard they are always welcome.

Happy new year!

Hi. I have seen Butia and Trachys at Lowes but I have not seen any planted about. Thank You for the suggestions. I have included some pics of my palms this past Summer. I have to get a new camera as they have grown some and I still have to get pics of the Queen palm. Also I seem only to be able to post one picture at a time.

Another pic.

Front of house.

Another view. Pygmy palm is on the right.

Pygmy.

Brahea Armata-Mexican Blue palm. This is a very good desert palm. Too bad I don't have a more recent picture. I bought this palm at a local nursery.

I also have two Saguaro cacti growing in my backyard next to my shed. The tall one is probably over 100 years old.

Beautiful cactus....

Can't imagine a Trachy doing well there even if in shade.

Hi. Ya I hear that Trachys get ratty looking in this climate. It's the hot, dry air that does it I gather. Here is a shot I took down the street from me. There are a lot of cacti and palms in my neighborhood.

Here is a nice Filifera.

Mule palms do well in Arizona. They are cold, heat, and drought tolerant.

Archontophoenix do very poorly in that climate, but there are a number of crownshafted palms that might do well there (they do very well in Palm Desert in California, a similar, though possibly less cool climate (meaning the lows are less low)): Wodyetia, Pseudophoenix, and Roystonea all do well in a desert climate as long as the lows are not too low. And some Chamaedorea with pseudocrownshafts do well in such climes as long as they are in total shade. Dypsis decaryi has a great deal of heat tolerance and love for xeric landscapes, as do Majesty palms (though they need lots of water, too). Nannorhops does great, as do Braheas, Butias, Copernicias, Attaleas (if not too cold), Livistonas, Hyphaene (again, a cold threshold problem), Bismarckia, Ravenea xenophila, Sabals, Trithrinax, Serenoa, Phoenix, Medemia (another cold problem palm), Thrinax, Zombia (also intolerant of cold), Coccothrinax, Washingtonias (obviously) and Cocos (super sensitive to chronic low heat in winter, though)... etc... lots to chose from depending on your lows, but high heat does not appear to be a serious factor. All the above have done well in some parts of inland California where the temps are often in the 120F range. Parajubaeas are a bit on the touchy side when it comes to this degree of high heat, though they do tolerate climates where the temps get into the very low 100s regularly... but 110F frequently is pushing it, and if nights are not cool, they suffer. Jubaeas, however, seem to be more tolerant of such climates.

Hi. I guess microclimates are key with the most cold sensitive palms. I think the coldest I have had it here so far this Winter was 28F. I will have to take a look around and see what I can get for species. Mule palms are great looking but not common at all and pricey. I have a shady area on the East side of my house where I might be able to grow a more tender type and the area is protected against wind also. How about a picture of a Teddy Bear Cholla? They grow commonly near the mountains in this area and this one was planted down the street from me.

Are you in Mesa?

See if you can find a Trachy there,would be interesting to see what it looks like.

T.Princeps is probably the most heat tolerant-but not once it's over 95F esp if it's dry,mine had fried leaves from 106F

Royal palms...seen photos of huge ones At Arizona University and fronting courthouses. They love the heat,can take your cold(if your in Phoenix or Yuma)..just add water.

Hi. I am actually located between Phoenix and Tucson. It's a very small place called Arizona City. The most common palm here is Washingtonia Robusta.

Not so sure sabals would do well in such a dry climate...they are water loving palms. If you can get your hands on one, Mazari palms are desert palms.

Hi. I'm suprised that Queen palms do as well as they do here. But you do have to water them fairly frequently. I am in the process of getting a new camera so I can make movies and add new pics. Hard to choose what to get as there are so many cameras on the market today. Here's another pic of a palm in the neighborhood.

This thread really makes me miss Arizona. I really hope I can move back there someday. Palms I remember seeing (growing happily) while I lived there were (aside from common palms like Washingtonia): Butia, Brahea, Sabal uresana, Nannorrhops ritchiana, Jubaea chilensis.

Other palms that were large and appeared to be growing well:
Sabal palmetto (on the UA campus), Trachycarpus fortuni, Livistona chinensis, Acoelorrhaphe wrightii..

I think any Sabal would grow fine in Arizona, but from what I understand the ones that are native to humid areas grow much more slowly than they do in their native habitat. The palmetto that grows on the UA campus looks like dwarf, and in my opinion it looks even more attractive that way.

Some fun experimental palms for the Sonoran Desert:
Any Hyphaene
Medemia argun
..both palms native to African deserts, and I think they would do fine in Phoenix or Yuma (hot zone 9a/9b). Odds are you'd be the only one growing them as well.

+Awesome saguaros btw!

This post was edited by fr8train on Fri, Jan 4, 13 at 0:10

Here are a few photos of I took while living down there...

Livistona chinensis, Tucson:

Copernicia?, Tucson:

Trachycarpus fortunei, Tucson:

This post was edited by fr8train on Thu, Jan 3, 13 at 23:49

Butia 1, Tucson:

Trachycarpus fortunei, Tucson:

Sabal palmetto, Tucson:

Sabal uresana, Tucson:

Jubaea chilensis, Tucson:

Nannorrhops richtiana, Tucson:

Sabal uresana, Tucson:

Sabal uresana, Tucson:

Butia 2, Tucson:

Hi. Wow Thanks for posting the pics!!! I guess there are some possibilities and choices for me.I suppose the rarer palms would have to be grown from seed and then planted out in a few years. Livistona Chinensis looks interesting. I had a good sized one as a houseplant when I lived in Massachusetts. I think I might try growing one here.This pic shows a Dust Devil whirling in the desert just South of the town.