Growing Windmill palms in zone 6?
 

I just found out Im in zone 6 and I want a palm. I read in a thread that there are members growing Windmill palms in zone 6 too. Can they stay outside in the winter or do they need to be protected like banana plants? I would really like to learn more about them cuz they look really cool. =)

Re: Growing Windmill palms in zone 6?
 

Get the biggest plant you can afford and make sure to protect it in winter for the first 3 years at least. Mine took a beating this year though they survived. Some years even with the best protection in our zone you may as well consider them a "deciduous palm". A needle palm might be a better choice, after the brutal winter we just had that one came through for me with no damage at all. Good luck with yours.

Re: Growing Windmill palms in zone 6?
 

Hmm here we had several long cold winters in a row. And most if not all Trachycarpus fortunei survived. Some looked pretty bad after the winter. But they recover fast. We had lots of snow and temperatures of -18 c° long cold wet periods. -10 c° doesn't do much damage. Perhaps you can find a local grower. Cause palms grown in a colder climate are much hardier and don't need to adjust. It's best you plant yours in spring so they can settle.

Re: Growing Windmill palms in zone 6?
 

@ bob. what does "deciduous palm" mean? You have a needle palm and it survived? I dont have to get a windmill cuz I can get any palm. I only wanted windmill cuz I thought it liked winter. Do you have any pictures of your needle palm? Thank you for the information about needle palms. =)

@ el manolo. we can easy get colder than -18c here. eskimos could live here. Its spring here now so I need to get one fast and now i think could be a needle palm. Thank you for the information about planting them in the spring. =)

Re: Growing Windmill palms in zone 6?
 

I am in Zone 5 and I planted 26 of them last spring, that I grew from seed....the only thing I did for protection was throw some leaves on them....there is a pic of them in my gallery....they all came thew just fine.....and we had a WICKED winter here to!!

Re: Growing Windmill palms in zone 6?
 

@ bananadude. Yea last winter was wiked but i like snow so its all good. =D
That windmill palm looks really big. i like those purple looking canas too. =)

Re: Growing Windmill palms in zone 6?
 

A needle palm is definitely much hardier than the T. fortunei. I have one in my front yard and it did great this winter. I also have a Miniature Chusan palm (T. wagnerianus) planted next to it which I grinned from seed a few years ago and it does great... if any leaves burn and fall of (the defoliation makes it what I think he is calling deciduous) it grows back during summer...

Zone 6 here too.

Re: Growing Windmill palms in zone 6?
 

Re: Growing Windmill palms in zone 6?
 

Yay! more zone 5 and 6 people. i really like that everybody here isnt in California and Florida.

@ juni. Thx for the information. i still need to read more about palms and I couldnt find any in the wiki. But I can probably learn a lot just reading the other plants threads. =)

@ hollyberry lady. lol! 6 months? That could be tooooo long. Thx for posting the picture! That looks really cool too. =)
Im going to try to get a needle palm and a windmill palm. We always have tons of dead leafs here and I can pile them up all over them before winter.

Re: Growing Windmill palms in zone 6?
 

What you need are some Needle Palms (Rapidophyllym hystrix) and Sabal minor. They don't really form trunks, but a windmill palm (Trachycarpus fortunei) will need protection every year to survive zone 6 but will form trunks. Sabal 'Birmingham' has been grown in zone 6 and will eventually form a trunk and is probably cold hardy enough to go unprotected unless a really cold spell hits. Maybe Sabal 'Brazoria' as well. Check out SEPalms.org and especially the link to the Cold Hardy Palms and Subtropical message board for lots of information.

Re: Growing Windmill palms in zone 6?
 

Im really impressed with windmill palms cold tolerance! I only threw a plastic garbage bin over mine and after a low temperature of around 7F and more subfreezing cold then I think I have EVER experienced here before, it still survived with only some damage to the lowest fronds. My other 2 windmill palms were protected the same way only with a frost cloth and some x-mas lights around it for heat and they werent damaged one bit (they actually grew a little). Fantastic cold hardy palms! One of mine has silver undersides that looks really nice when you take a night picture with a camera that has a flash.

Re: Growing Windmill palms in zone 6?
 

Another site for palms is palmtalk.org
Some Walmart locations sell cold hardy palm trees from Costa Farms in blue containers labelled Cold Zone.... nice needle palms, windmills, and sabals for under $20

Re: Growing Windmill palms in zone 6?
 

Thx guyz for all the information! I need to decide on 2 to grow but if that sabal minor one is only $20 at Walmart I can get that one too next weekend. Ill check that SEPalms.org tomorrow after school cuz I dont have any time left tonight. I want to learn more about that Birmingham palm and Brazoria palm. =D

Re: Growing Windmill palms in zone 6?
 

I agree on the Needle Palm.... it is the most hardy of all the palms.

Re: Growing Windmill palms in zone 6?
 

Smithsonian palms and bananas | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

This link shows one in front of the Air and Space Museum in DC. I think DC is in zone 7.

Re: Growing Windmill palms in zone 6?
 

@ dottie. That looks great! They should put flowers around it too. If they can grow that in BC I can grow it here. Thx for that link. =)

Re: Growing Windmill palms in zone 6?
 

Here's a Trachycarpus fortunei growing in Brooklyn NY (Botanic Gardens): Palm Tree | Flickr - Photo Sharing!.

Another one you might consider looking into is T. wagnerianus, which IMHO is a cooler looking palm... the leaves are shorter and it is more resistant to crown rot than most windmills (crown rot is more likely to kill a palm tree than the cold itself). Then there's T. takil, which some say is still in "experimental stage", but I've noticed far less leafburn in winter on my takil than on my fortunei.

Re: Growing Windmill palms in zone 6?
 

Yay! Pages that arent blocked. =|
@ Juni. Those are incredible. =D Id like to have a T. wagnerianus but I dont know if I can get permissions to grow a whole tree. I will ask. They should give those shorter names. It would save a lot on copy and paste. Whats a crown? Is that the top leafs? Thx for the picture. I googled and found pictures of the other 2. =)

Re: Growing Windmill palms in zone 6?
 

Those are the scientific names... common names are windmill palm (Trachycarpus fortunei), miniature chusan palm (Trachycarpus wagnerianus), Kumaon Palm (Trachycarpus takil), Pindo Palm (Butia capitata) and so on. The are all trees though. The needle palm can form a truck too (I've seen them) but it takes a very long time because most of it will be underground.

The crown is where all the fronds grow out of. That's pretty much the life of the palm tree. If that rots and dies out, the whole tree goes.

Re: Growing Windmill palms in zone 6?
 

That's a lot easier to remember. I made a list on my pc. I found a diagram of a banana plant in the wiki and it has a corm. I read that if it gets wet and cold that it will rot. And somebody said that young palms are harder to keep alive. That must mean that crown can stay too wet if it's too close to the ground. I think I understand the "rot" thing now. I really like the palms that have leafs shaped like fans!
Thanks for all the great information! =)