Where in IA are you located?(I believe i saw that is where you are in another post) I am in Waterloo and will be putting 2 Windmill's 2 Needles and a S.Minor into the ground this spring. Right now it is 1 above with 28 MPH winds gusting to 40..wind chill is 24 below!! What palms do you have? Any pics? How do you protect them? I have been paying attention to winter temps between here and S.E IA this winter and it is huge! I actually wouldn't mind living down there by the Miss river..always thought it was a very pretty place.

We're supposed to get that same system heading to us later this week. We're supposed to get some measurable snow out of it, but luckily the coldest we're supposed to get is 13, and then we start to warm back up again with lows in the 20s. I agree though, February is the last "winter" month. We get some cold and snow in March, but things are much milder, and the snow doesn't stick around for long. Lately, spring seems like it comes by about mid March here, and some years even by the beginning of March.

Lakers: I've had success with sabal minor and needle palm, neither of which are protected unless we're forecast to get single digit lows or a huge ice storm, and even then, I don't provide supplemental heating to them at all, I only put one of those black plastic nursery pots over them, but I take them off when the cold event is over. I guess the only benefit it provides is to keep the ice off of them, and to break some of the wind. Of course, the sabal minors I'm referring to are the North Texas ecotypes, which probably helps a little, as opposed to if they were Florida ecotypes.

Next winter, I probably won't protect them at all. They're doing great, much better than I expected. They've seen 3 degrees,and numerous other nights in the single digits. The small needle palm I'm referring to had spear pull last summer because of overwatering in the crown from sprinklers, and didn't recover yet, but it has gone completely unprotected, not even a pot over it. It has not suffered defoliation to my surprise. It isn't even a foot tall, and has a weak root system. None of these palms are planted anywhere near the house, only in full sun. If you plant them in a southern exposure and against the foundation of your house, you may only need to provide very minimal protection, maybe a cage filled with straw.

Lakers1982:I live in fairfield, in Jefferson county,second county up from Missouri border, third county west of mississippi river I look at temps south of where I am also, I grew up in St.Louis.I have (planted now) a T.fortunei and a hayes(stiffie)looks like a x between T.fortunei and a waggie I use an umbrella greenhouse 44"x49"it has two large zippered flaps and a 125watt heat bulb,works great,they are both inside I planted them Nov 1 did'nt give them much chance being planted so late,now I think they will make it no prob,no pictures till spring(maybe sooner if I figure it out before then haha)going in this spring-more fortunei 3 T.wags T.takil,(maipur,nanus,princeps,to small this year),C.cerifera,cordyline,musa basjoo,3 dif sabals,nannorrhops ritcheana,yunnan banana,R.hystrix(needle palm)W.robusta,W.filifera,had enough!various other plants also doing a "coldhardy"cactus and succulent bed it sounds like alot, most of the plants are somewhat small,would be a small fortune to buy larger plants,I will cover one large group and heat,and have various satillite plants with various different protections,anything from leaf mulching and moisture protection(plastic sheeting)to just covering (like islandbreeze does) on my hystrix and sabals ,only maybe just a plastic cover to bring day temps above freezing on hystrix and sabals when its really cold, should be faster and easier to plant and protect then it was to write all this I type slooooow!

Well not much of a "blizzard"lasted about an hour,with just a dusting of snow,did'nt get down to -8 more like 1or2F but a pretty big turn around anyway,hey lakers1982 been checking out your weather on weather.com amazing the difference being about 130 north makes,anyway good look with your trachys,needles and sabals happy to share imformation.

Huge difference between you and me..Like i said i would enjoy a move to the south eastern part of the state..somewhere along the Mississippi river in a small town..very pretty there but also economically depressed..but at the same time housing is sooooo cheap!!I have noticed that sometimes in Keokuk they have winters where i wouldn't even need to protect a Needle,or Minor and very lightly protect a Windmill...Will you be getting any pictures soon?? What size are your palms? planing on trying anything else this spring?

lakers1982 I listed(I think)all the palms I am trying a couple of rows up that should keep me busy for a while(ya think?)anyway,I may try and get some pictures soon but more likely this spring when everythings in and more as the season moves along,yea I'm not sure just how cold and for how long these palms can take(the cold)I read a story about trachycarpus latisectus growing outside a hotel in darjeeling india,I looked up the 7 day forecast and it was colder then fairield iowa so who knows,I want to plant a few that I will only cover below zero and not provide heat for only a clear cover during true arctic out breaks so during the day the sun can warm them above freezing I may buy a few extra fortunei for this on ebay if I can find another deal like I got in Nov, 3 T.fortunei 3feet tall for 60 bucks, 2 W.robusta and 3 W.filifera (these are the biggest right now) 3footers they (robusta and filifera) should grow really fast they are about the only palms that are growing now inside the rest of the palms and cactus and succulents are fairly small.