NORTH TEXAS — When it gets this bitterly cold outside some business owners surprisingly start sweating. 

That's because they have to go to work to quickly protect valuable merchandise that could be lost if exposed to below-freezing temperatures. 

A warehouse in East Dallas is the temporary home of more than 300 palm trees riding out this late winter cold spell. The owner of Texas Palm Trees has to do this to keep some of his inventory alive. 

But, there are varieties of palm trees that do just fine in freezing weather. 

Just when an 80-degree day earlier this month had Ismael Rodriguez thinking he could move his inventory of palm trees outside, an approaching arctic cold front forced his staff of seven to fire up their tractors and bring more than 300 palm trees back inside a 53-degree warehouse earlier this week. 

"You do watch the weather a lot," said Rodriguez. "Four or five stations, scanning through all of them."

Rodriguez has owned Texas Palm Trees for 40 years. 

He's become an expert at nurturing what are traditionally tropical plants and getting them to thrive in a part of Texas where they are not native because it gets too cold. 

"A lot of people make the mistake of getting the ones that are not as cold-hearty and they end up losing them when it's a little cold and they get discouraged," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez sells palm trees and also offers seasonal wrapping for customers during the winter months. But there's no protection right now on the dozens of palm trees in his own backyard. 

Rodriguez said the Texas Sabal and some other palm tree varieties can withstand temperatures down to the single digits.

He said most people do not know it is possible to create a tropical paradise at home, even in DFW, without replacing plants every year. 

"It's important to get a hearty variety and a well-established plant," said Rodriguez.

He lost 20-30% of his inventory during the devastating 2021 winter storm and said he is determined not to have that happen again. He's making a risky bet that this is the last blast of winter and plans to move his trees back outside next week — with his fingers crossed.