I would disagree with both of you on your ability to grow palms. If you can grow orchids successfully indoors, there are palms that you can also grow indoors.
Most people think that the entire state of FL is one big coconut palm resort, but it just ain't so. I live in North Central, almost in the very center of the top 1/3 of the state. I am 6 hours south of Atlanta, an hour south of Jacksonville and 2 hours north of Orlando and Tampa. 5.5 hours north of Miami. Same level as Houston TX.
But my climate is extremely variable and can be quite different from Atlanta, Tampa and Orlando. We are always warmer in winter by almost 2 climate zones than Atlanta, whose weather is closer to Dallas TX. We never get snow or ice, and only have 1-5 nights below 32 in a typical winter. We are landlocked, being about an hour from both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic, and as a result, we can get much hotter than Central and South FL in summer with no sea breeze to coll it off. And, of course in winter, we can and do get colder. Our average outdoor winter lows are 40's, but you know "averages" aren't really worth the paper they are written on. It was 23F (a record low) a week or so ago. Yet on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, the low was in the high 60's, almost 70! That's quite a variation for one week.
The most common palms planted out here are cold hardy ones like Braheas, Butias, Sagos, Phoenix (date palm) species, Trachycarpus species, Syragus species (especially Queen palms), Washingtonias, Sabals and Serenoa repens. Rhapis can also be planted out in protected locations. These palms are variably hardy to between 5-28F. I know people as far north as Chicago that successfully grow larger species palms in containers outside in summer and indoors in winter.
Of course the farther south you go you can do Princess palms, Areca palms, Dypsis, coconuts, etc etc etc.
If you don't want to mess with bigger species, there are many MANY MANY small growing rainforest understory palms that lend themselves to indoor growing. They might be hard to locate, indeed they would certainly have to be mail ordered, but unless I go down to South Florida in person, I have to mail order them too! I get most of mine from Hawaii.
Species that prefer shade are not uncommon! Those especially suited to house culture are Chamaedoreas and Calyptrocalyx species. Others that can be done successfully are Rhapis (excelsa, humilis, and multifida), some of the Licualas, Pinangas, many of which are very beautiful with mottled fronds, Kentia palms, and even (if you are very adventurous) Joey palms and Darian Palms. Joeys (Johannesteijsmannia altifrons and J. magnifica and the Darian palm, Marojejya darianii) eventually get HUGE, but the key word here is EVENTUALLY. These are very VERY slow growing, trunkless palms that get huge fronds up to 10-20 ft long, but that takes so many years, the palms may outlive YOU. They can be very happy in containers for a very very long time.
Let me pull some photos of palms I believe you guys could grow indoors. I grow them in the greenhouse as understory to taller plantings.
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