windmill palms in 5b?

Should be cololrado springs,not spring,sorry

 

We have taken a huge chance and planted 30 chinese windmill palm trees in West Des moines, Iowa. If anyone has any advice for us on maintenance, etc, I would be glad to hear it.

www.iowapalmtrees.blogspot.com

 

Yeah, I would definitely say they have taken a HUGE risk here. I just hope they realise they are also going to have to make a very sizeable financial investment in winter protection methods as well, or else those Windmills will not stand a chance of surviving for more than just this summer. Wile I am all for the use and promotion of windmill palms in places that do not traditionally have palm trees. If I hotel around here would do that I would not think too much of it, since we are a zone 8 near downtown, and 7b most other places, however I would also hope that they are planning on winter protection methods to ensure the trees survival. There are a few Windmills in the area that have survived a number of years with no protection. However those were planted up close to buildings on mostly southern facing sides, and are in a significantly enhanced micro climate. I just hope these people in Iowa are going to view this as a long term investment, instead of as a short term marketing gimmick, and give these trees the chance to survive they deserve. I also hope that the nursery that sold these did so honestly and fully informed the customers that these palms, while very cold hardy, are really rated down to possibly a zone 6B at the very coldest zone. It would seem pretty dishonest to me if a retailer like that significantly overstated those palms cold hardiness just to win a contract/ make a sale. It would be also great if they offered to provide protection services for the winter months. I will be following this closely to see how this plays out.

 

We diid do research prior to making this decision, and we are committed to this for more than a marketing ploy. We are goingn to invest in a fairly sophisticated warming system. Stay tuned for more information

 

Just wondering if you guys protected the leaves and crowns and how things are looking,tough first year to be trying palms this far north!,mine have made it here in southeast Iowa,with full protection-

 

We wrapped the trunks and ground with heat tape and wrapped the crown. Not sure yet how they are faring. How long have you had yours and where are they at?

 

I have had mine in the ground a few years now,the lowest temps they have seen are mid single digits breifly,they are all covered with a variety of protection methods.
Do you have any pics of them now?also I would wait until mid April to uncover no matter what the temps do before than and check the ten day forecast,of course I will uncover mine earlier and check the ten day because I am impatient!but I can always recover if rain and cold are expected,I hope they make it for you,palms that size have a lot of stored energy so they should have a shot if the cores and trunks are intact,still,tough winter to be in the ground(first year) did you mulch 3-4" or more as well?

 

Needles, Sabal minors, can survive very cold temps ... The windmill palm can take a lot, but living up north and not wanting to work hard ,stay with the needle or sabal minors.. I went to that page and i think i seen pinestraw .. Better get some hard wood mulch of some kind on the ground .. mulch vs straw is alot better to help the ground temps.. Try this put a water hose under 4 inches of hardwood mulch, beside it put another hose under straw see which one freezes...

 

I agree with the pine straw not being as good of an insulater,I think needles would create a slightly less dramatic veiw around the hotel.
I am still curious how they wrapped the leaves and protected(?)the crowns.