Windmill Palm Trees, Tropical Accent Plants, Cold Hardy for Northern United States and Canada
Posted: Thursday, April 12, 2007
by Patrick Malcolm
TyTy Nursery
The Cold Hardy Windmill Fan Palm tree originated on the island of Chusan off the east coast of China, and the Windmill palm tree is often called the Chinese or Chusan Fan Palm. Robert Fortune smuggled Windmill palm plants from China into the Kew Horticultural Gardens and into the Royal garden of Prince Albert of England in 1849 after the Opium Wars of China ended. The Windmill Palm tree was named in Latin, Trachycarpus fortunei, after Robert Fortune, and after 158 years, in the year 2007, these Windmill Fan Palm trees are still growing gracefully as a distinguished, exotic, rare tree at Kew Gardens, a palm of noble bearing.
Although most Windmill Palm nursery growers are conservative in recommending the Windmill Palm tree planting to be restricted to growing in zones 8-10; other Windmill Palm Nursery growers recommend and guarantee this rare palm tree to grow in zones 3-10. There has been a rush by Northern nursery retailers to plant Windmill Palm trees for the home gardener, who wants that tropical look and accent around his pool or patio. The Windmill Palm tree is planted at plant nurseries from seed, where they grow about one foot each year. The slow growth of the Windmill Palm is partially responsible for its cold hardiness. Another characteristic that is inherently cold hardy is that the fibers that cover the trunk insulate the growing center of the tree. The brown-gray color of the burlap-like fibers cover the trunk like a wool covering in winter, and the dark color attracts the warmth of the sunlight. A coarse green wax covers the leaves and stems to make the Windmill Palm tree even more cold hardy.
The Windmill Palm tree is most often grown as a solitary, single trunk plant, however, some Windmill Palm nursery growers offer double or triple trees growing in the same container as large as 100 gallons. These huge 10 foot tall Windmill Palm trees are choice, tropical looking specimens for malls and at entrances to governmental buildings. The Windmill Palm tree can be easily shipped by UPS on short orders, and large Windmill Palm trees can be shipped by semi-truck, motor freight lines. Shipping Windmill Palm trees can be easily done any season, and the survival rate is excellent for large specimens. Very large specimens of Windmill Palm trees have been recently installed at the entrance of the new Cloister Resort Hotel-a 5-star hotel-located at Sea Island, Georgia, where the Windmill Palm tree is not only tropical in appearance and cold hardy, but completely resistant to the Atlantic Ocean salt water air problems. The Cloister hotel has grown smaller Windmill Palm trees at various out buildings for past years successfully. The expense of installing large Windmill Palm trees can be offset by planting small specimens that can be expected to grow about one foot each year. Because of the recent success of planting large specimen trees of the tropical looking Windmill Palm tree in Canada and Northern U.S. States, many gardeners are now experimenting with planting small Windmill Palm trees in the North, before the plant has developed a sufficient dense fiber covering to make the tree cold hardy enough to survive the deep freezes in the Northern States.
Typically the Windmill Palm tree has a history of surviving over 150 years of age in the Western World at a height of 40 feet, but accurate reports of Windmill Palm trees, native to the Island of Chusan in Eastern China, do not exist in translated texts, but conceivably could reach 100 feet in height. The rapid growth of Western influence on the development of China will undoubtedly reveal many more interesting botanical, developmental facts concerning the Windmill Palm tree in the near future.
The Windmill Palm tree appears to have all the perfection of tropical landscape gardening requirements for growing throughout the United States and cold hardy areas of Canada and Europe. Most types of soils are acceptable for growing Windmill Palms. Very few insect and disease problems exist to endanger growing Windmill Fan Palm trees. Even through slow growing, the Windmill Palm captivates the tropically minded gardener for pool and courtyard plantings. The Windmill Palm tree grows as separate male and female plants, and the date that is produced is inedible, resulting from the yellow, pleasantly, perfumed flowers that grow into blue seed, round and one-half inch in diameter.
Other cold hardy palm trees that are especially adapted for growing in the United States are the Needle (Raptor) Palm, Rhapidophyllum histrix; the Dwarf Palmetto Palm tree, Sabal minor; and the Saw Fan Palmetto palm tree, Serenoa repens.
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Learn more about various plants, or purchase ones mentioned in this article by visiting the author's website: TyTy Nursery
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)I love palm trees i often find myself riding down the rode wishing a maple or ash or pine could be replaced with a windmill palm or needle it would look so cool hear by lake saint clair in south eastern michigan zone 6 i want landscapers to relize this but they don't belive it is possible for a palm trees to live in southeastern michigan thanks!!!!!!!!I feel the exact same way! I also live in zone 6 in St. Clair Michigan wishing the trees could be replaced with a windmill palm or a needle palm! I'm going to plant some too! I'm so glad that someone near me feels the same way! Don't worry, those landscapers will be shock when they see us (I hope you plant some too!) having palm trees in our very own backyard!I have planted 3 windmill palms and musa basjoo banana trees with much success! actually believe it or not i bought a fairly good sized windmill palm from Randazoo nursery on romeo plank road for about 43.00$ not to bad for only a 15 min drive! i have planted it right up against my brick home and i wrap christmas lights around it and tie up the fronds, then i wrap it in a good thick layer of old towels, the lastly in plastic to keep the heat in. i also spray the leaves with wilt proof! so far so good on days that are above 30 or so degrees in unwrap the towel and plastic and let the sun shine in!!i just planted a windmill palm in sw mo, zone 6. if it suvives the coming winter next spring i will plant a few more.
Super site, very informative and creative photo compositions.
Hey that is great information on the Windmill Palm Tree. I would also like to add a place where i saw a lot of good info as well. Its called windmillpalmtrees. Looks plain but its everything you need to know about that palm tree. well thanks ttylor try this website realpalmtrees they have a quick general description.
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