I would also love to see some pictures of your Michigan grown fan palm, monkey puzzle tree, and banana plants, and I'd also love to know where you bought them from, since winter testing of tropicals is in such an early stage. Thanks, Marbree

Your Lucky your all in the states. I live in Windsor, across the river from Michigan and we also, can ONLY grow the Chinese Windmill Palm / Trachycarpus fortunei. (That I know of for certain - there are others being tried) Unfortunately, being tropical, the plant has to be brought in from BC where the climate there is more like California except BC does get hit with some severe winter weather. This is how we know it will survive (after a few years of winter protection) here in our climate. The plants I can order are small (1gallon-$18cad)and they take a long time to grow, I heard 2-4 palm leaves a year. And you can't mail order bigger than a 1 gallon plant from them and they have a smaller one, probably the 2 1/2 inches. They also want 30% of the total order for shipping or $32 whichever is greater. Ouch... Tropic.ca But places that carry these plants have other hardy tropicals such as 2 hardy BANANA TREES (1 definately for our area with winter protection Musa Basjoo (Japenese Fiber Banana)& Musa Sikkimensis (it's a beauty to and said to be as hardy as the Musa Basjoo once established (2-4 years) You have to cut down banana's in our area down to 2-3 feet and insulate. And the Canna's...outstanding(need to lift root to over winter inside.) They have bamboo and hardy paw paw fruit trees and figs, makes a tropics fanatic yearnful. Mind you, you'll find great prices for some of these at one store and better prices or availability and sizes at another. Best info I found for Tropical Hardiness for our area is at www.Bambooworld.com For you people over the border (US)who want to find a closer place to order from search the words 'Trachycarpus fortunei' (Chinese Windmill Palm) and those Latin words should bring you up mostly stores selling them and any tropicals you can think of. If your not after the Chinese Windmill Palm particulary, but a tropical on-line store that may not even sell the Chinese Windmill Palm, use 'Musa Basjoo' (Japenese Fiber Banana). Happy hunting! Yardman, you must be right over the river in the Michigan area to have that Zone. Though I've never seen that area classified as a 7, I know it has been classified a Zone 6 as is our area, though I still tend to stick with the better known Zone 5. Just don't have the money to be risky, some Zone 6 plants would survive here while others won't, so I just wait till someone incites my curiousity over a rare plant in our area and check it out. And if I want it bad enough... ;) Anyway, Yardman and anyone else growing tropicals in the Detroit Area/Lower Michigan, which tropicals such as bamboo, yucca's and figs do you have growing anyway? At least those plants you've had overwintered for winter or two. - Sandy

OPPALM, that is very interesting what the hotel manager told you: Specifically, that the fire department considered heating the palms in the enclosure as a fire hazard. I realize you probably don't know enough of the details of what their precise objections were, but I think that is a serious statement by the fire department. Because, I suppose the implication is that what a lot of us on this forum are doing to preserve our plants over the winter might be considered a fire hazard by the Des Moines Fire Department's standards. And if those standards are reasonable and applicable, I'd like to know more about this, because while I like growing a palm tree in Minnesota, I don't want to risk my and/or my neighbors property in the process. Perhaps the hotel was considering some kind of heavy duty heaters, and that is what the fire department objected to? (But if that were the case, why not try wrapping them with lights underneath?) dln949

The most recently posted Long Island street view is from 2012! No proof they are still there after the 2 polar vortex winters. And the other recent winter that was very cold in New England but not as much down here. (2016 IIRC: well below 0F on Martha's Vineyard. Have no idea how LI fared) They often look out of place in typical residential settings but I think those twin Seattle trees suit the house and are well taken care of so I give them a pass! Good catch GG. I am actually wondering if the NW DC, Bethesda, and Baltimore trees survived this horrid summer...by far the most humid I can remember. We barely had any comfortable dewpoints throughout September, not until the last few days. USUALLY cold fronts start pushing in some crisp weather by the 2nd week of Sept. It was a constant steambath since May. And yes it is humid compared to the PNW, but constant dewpoints 70F or above are not normal at least up here. There's a reason you see at least a few old ironclad rhodies in the DC/Baltimore area, but none in the deep south. And other than the late June/early July drought/heatwave - just long enough to be a nuisance - incredible rainy spells, one after another. I'm lucky to have only lost a couple important rhodies to root rot. OTOH it was nice to not worry about watering the 6 or so new planted camellias in my garden. They are so thirsty in the first year!