your washy looks really snug in there and I think it will be fine. You windmill palm should get a little something. Maybe you can wrap the trunk with lights and burlap, you can do the same thing you did for your washy if you dont want too much damage. Good luck!

In my opinion you have done more than enough. I covered my Washys with just one layer of plastic and lights in two of my biggest ones. My two small Washys look just as good as the big ones in which I placed drop lights. Of course it's only gotten down to 15 here for the past few nights... You have nothing to worry about with that kind of protection even if you hit 0 degrees.

I'm shocked you guys are supposed to get that cold down there! The coldest we got here so far in SE Michigan is 5. And the coldest we're forecast to get for the next week is 12.

As far as protection goes, I would definitely protect the trachy. Mine completely fried when temps went down to 6 degrees, and that was protected from the wind too. As far as the washingtonia, that should be enough protection, and if it isn't, at least they grow fast enough where they'll be able to refoliate in no time. And you might want to think about adding a couple extra bags of mulch around the bases of your palms just to keep the ground from freezing.

Thanks folks for the replies and advice. I just needed some peace of mind.

Islandbreeze - It's definitely not normal for us to get that low. The best I remember it hasn't been this cold since the mid 90's. Usually we have lows in the 30's and 20's with the occasional teens. Single digits are rare.

Your Trachy is going to be close and as mentioned if you want to protect the foliage you may want to cover it.
How much are the temps supposed to recover during the day?

Good luck

Thanks for the sharp photo essay.

Your washy is well protected. I would add mulch, stones (bricks) or sand bags along the bottom to protect the roots from excessive cold. Don't leave the lights on once the temp is over 30*F. You'd better do the same for your tracky!

I heard of that you have damaging cold weather coming.

Jim, our highs are supposed to only reach the low 20's Friday and Saturday, low 30's Saturday and low 40's Monday and Tuesday. Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights are supposed to be 10°, 8° and 10°. We are expecting 1-2 inches of snow tonight.
Brooklyngreg, I did add a little more mulch around the bases of the washys this evening so I hope that helps. We have already had lows in the mid to low teens this past week. Our cold snaps usually don't last this long so I hope the washys can endure the sustained freezing temps with the protection I have done. I will probably end up wrapping the Trachy tomorrow.

Islandbreeze...12 degrees in Michigan???? Wow, take comfort that you are warmer than some locations in Florida, like Crestview. According to the NWS lows there the next five nights will be 17, 24, 15, *10* and 19. I know of a couple of big queen palms there that are definitely going to bite the dust. And I am struggling with my Cuban Royal that I have had in the ground here since February of 2008. So far it still has no damage!!! We hit 17.1 here in SE Alabama this morning.

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?site=tae&zmx=1.25&zmy=1.25&map.x=17&map.y=159

Joey, I live close to you in Escambia County and I wouldn't even think of trying to grow a Royal palm here, LOL. I think we're forecasted to get down around 13F for several nights. All of my potted palms are in my garage but if it gets that cold they still may freeze since my garage is open on one end, but at least it's the south end. If you see any Canary Island palms with damage would you let me know? I'm going to keep an eye on the few local ones that I know of, I would like to know what temp they really get damaged since I read varying opinions.

I think we all have it right. Hopefully this is winters worst and if we use our protection methods and lights etc.. almost of our palms will make it. The washy should make it once the weather breaks. Keep us posted.

Hey even FL is struggling with temps; I have noted that here in NYC our lowest temp has only been around 13*F one artic nite. SO things could be much worse. I would think that TX, FL and other warm locales will have a break soon. Usually cold snaps are just that, a quick snap. We are up to the mid thirties here which is not too bad.

Joey, actually now they're predicting 5 and 7 degrees for lows this weekend. I'm in southern Michigan near the water, so we don't get as cold as other parts of the Great Lakes and Midwest, but our daytime highs in the winter are cold. As long as we don't get below zero degrees, I'm happy.

I hear you Islandbreeze.

I am happy as long as we do not drop below 10* where we live. Which we usually do once or twice a winter.

That's tough Greg
We don't see 10(F) much anymore (-;