That's a beautiful palm, and looks like it makes a great houseplant for you. Where did you buy it from?

To address your question, I heard that trachys are the only type of palm that goes dormant in the winter, all others just slow down. I don't know how true this is, but if it is true, I wouldn't cover it in complete darkness, as it might die. If anything, use a white or clear covering material, something to let light in. Just something to think about, I know if that were my palm, I'd hate to lose it.

I have a CIDP that I store in the garage overwinter. This is it's 2nd such winter. It's not totally dark, but light is poor and it is cold. The key is despite the cold, it should not dry out completely.

I have a young Bismarkia that is in the same conditions and looks fine so far.

Its amazing how different a palm can look when grown in differnet conditions. Here, a palm with that much trunk is much fatter and the crown is dense and spread horizontally, not vertically.

Just wondering, are the leaflets really stiff? The Phoenix canariensis here have such stiff and pointy leaflets that they poke as if they were spines. It hurts to rub up against one.

What a gorgeous palm congrats !

centralcali,
It definitely looks different than the canaries ive seen in italy and argentina. The lower leaves are more bendy and thin than rigid. Theyre prolly less stiff because of the lack of light intensity inside the house.

I took off 4 bottom leaves this summer because i don't have room for the sideways habit on the patio or in the living room. It lost a bunch of bottom leaves when I potted it in spring 05.

I'm thinking its lack of height makes it a good palm to protect outside, by fastening the leaves vertical and using a structure of wood, insulation, and heat cables.

That is a great looking palm and I would hate to see you lose it outside. Short of a full blown green house with underground heat cables I would not chance it. My suggestion would be to re-pot it in a pot about 50% larger come May.

Your CIDP would need alot of aclimatising if you were looking to plant it out otherwise you would suffer serious leaf burn.

In my experience CIPD's don't like being wrapped for long periods, you would need to build a structure to enclose it with plenty of air circulation. What sort of lows do you get? CIDP are good for -7c with little if not any damage.

Good luck with yours.

I guess it's not a good idea, -7 is a normal winter night here.

I've seen pics of a large CIDP that was planted in South Carolina at a miniature golf course or something, and more winters than not, it defoliated, until finally, it couldn't keep up with the defoliation/recovery battle and finally died. What zone and state are you in?

depending what zone you live in phoenix can stand - 7c happily i have a fifteen foot phoenix shaded by a wall and acacia tree and it's happy as a pig in mud.