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Large windmill palms in Montreal March 15,2010

14 years ago

Montreal palm trees - 6 years of experiments +22 years in Landscape Design- this is a great success story and a great hobby. Visit most recent photo gallery to see my large windmill palm and other small palms and bananas that pulled through the winter again. Go see that Montreal plant.

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Comments (12)

tropicalzone7
14 years ago
Wow, very nice. great job, that thing is HUGE! I cant wait until mine reaches that size! Has it ever flowered for you? It definitely looks tall enough and healthy enough to.

Good luck and thanks for sharing!
coconutmike
Original Author
14 years ago
Hey tropicalzone7. Yes the windmill did flower last year quite late actually. I guess because the winter is so darn cold.
Thanks for the encouragement
coconutmike
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Ironically, I picked up my 4th trachy yesterday. It is 4 feet tall, about a full foot of thick, 6" diameter woody trunk. It was $45. These are never available anywhere in my region (Minnesota), so I was stunned to see two of them for sale at a large independent garden center I had stopped at to pick up some tomato seedlings. It is a cool garden center about an hour north of where I live, we often stop there on the way home from up north at the lake/cabin. In the summer, that place has the absolute best sweet corn in MN! If you shop around, you should be able to find a bigger one. The one I just picked up would be a good size to plant in the yard, but I'm all screwed up on what I am doing with the yard now. I changed course, I actually have to dig up my 5 1/2 to 6 footer that's in now, and I'm going to pot it, and bring it to work (I own the business). This to accomodate a much larger one I have coming this week, a 7-footer, with a massive trunk. My large needle palm remains in the ground and is happy as can be. My (already getting pretty big) basjoos are going in ground this weekend. If you were in MN, I'd recommend going up and getting that one remaining $45 trachy. I almost bought both... You can get 5-footers from Ryan at Collector Palms for about $70 delivered (including shipping). They are not as stocky and thick though, kind of lanky with tall-reaching fronds. Shade grown I guess. Trunks have not really thickened up a whole lot yet, but they are healthy and nice trees nonetheless. They look nice and will fill out nicely I believe, if put in a good sunny location. Worth it if it is within your budget.
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Yardman, I have no more outdoor-all-year palms. I gave up in disgust about 3 or 4 years ago and dug everything up and potted it. Not because of the cold, I was able to overwinter things against that, but because of the voles getting into my covered plants and decimating them winter after winter, many of my nice (and not inexpensive) specimens being completely ruined. The ate two Italian Honey Fig trees that were 8 feet tall completely, so much so that there was literally only some sawdust left. They also killed a number of palms and other plants. I found out that voles like to eat: palms, figs, pomegranites, persimmmons, jujubes, aspidistra, acuba, live oak, bottlebrush, nandina, pampas grass, and gingers. I still have some zone-pushing things I winter outdoors every year without any vole problems, or at least minimal vole problems -- mostly bulb plants -- crinums, pineapple lilies, alstroemeria, and agapanthus. Also, I have LOTS of bamboo -- been spreading it all over my yard every year. I have two fairly large mimosa trees that bloomed last year, but look like they have some dieback this season after the harsher winter. I'm getting sick of moving the collection in and out every year, so I'm considering some of the protection strategies that Artictropic uses in Utah -- I assume you've seen his awesome pictures of his palms and the foamboard structures he uses to overwinter them.
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We are currently working with Nassau and Suffolk County on getting a minimum 5 Acre location for a nursery. We have a 3 acre location being developed in Old Brookville. While there is a trade off between the full root system of an easily shipped 3-5 footer(Trachy), our feeling is that customers will want a legit looking palm asap so the minimum 8 footers make sense. I'm hoping that the palm's maturity will spark quicker regrowth of its root system within a max 2-year period. So during those two years, at least the customer will have a palm of substance to look at and brag about. We will be offering a 1-year guarantee on all palms provided the customer uses our winter wrapping service. We feel the crucial months for protection (before establishment of the palm) will be Dec-Feb...Possibly first 2 weeks in March. Hey, the way I see it, covering a palm in NY for 3 months-to have palms isn't that bad. Our targeted market is pool owners-who are used to officially closing/covering their pools, BBQ, deck chairs....OK, so now include your palms. A ritual they are already used too. Shipping will be choreographed to spend as little time in transit as possible. We are currently speaking with different nurseries in GA & NC. Obviously, dealing with NC would provide us with the closest and most cold hardy of the species. Our goal is to get our nursery up and running ASAP so we can get our 1st generation of NY'ers followed by future generations-hopefully winding up with "New York Tough" lines of different palms species. We will also be test planting Dates, Sabals, Washingtonias, Yuccas and Agaves this spring to see how they cope with the next winter. I'm also going to be getting some Jubaea and Butia Hybrids. We will be experimenting with chemicals, sprays...trying to stay away from anything requiring electrical. One thing we will be working with is Beet Juice. Believe it or not, there is a company that has a patent pending on beet juice as an ice melt. In STL they use it instead of salt to melt the roadways as it is all natural and not corrosive. Can beet juice lower the core water temp freezing point inside a palm? Maybe, wont know until this winter. I just hope it doesn't dye the darn palm red :). Also, purely by accident, I discovered that I have seepage form a broken line in my leaching field where cesspool water is coming up. The grass in contact with that water is lush, growing and green as can be while the grass around it is frozen, brown and lifeless. A fertilizer rich in potassium and nitrogen may do a NY palm well in helping survive a winter. Each area in the US is different, even if they are listed in the same zone. There are Fortuneis on Long Island that are 20+ tall over 45 years old living on Long Island-no protection(Not having anything to do with me...www.nypalms.com. Our goal is to get them through the first 2-3 winters and then they should be able to cope. Butias may require winter protect for 5-10 years or until they are at least 15 feet high. I'm really looking forward to experimenting with other species and sharing the finding with all of you.
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Help Winterizing my Windmill Palms - New Enthusiast
Q
Comments (55)
I see this thread hasn't been active for months, but, I wanna ask are any of the good heat giving rope lights solar powered? I'm gonna guess, you can't count on them. And Sasha your last pic above is so damn cute. Seriously, some of those protection methods above are great ideas. I'm in zone 6a, I have 4-6 very small Needle or Windmill palm babies, I;m talking only 2-3 spears per plant. I want to eventually try at least one plant outdoors in the ground, but, I want the plant to look great and not be stressed. I am currently growing a Live oak (Quartz mountain) in zone 6, I have christmas lights on it, and if it gets below zero, I just may wrap it up like as if it were my 1st born. I have yet to try a palm outdoors, I have a potted Live oak protected now until it goes back up to at least the 30'sF. The christmas light wrapped live oak also has it's trunk protected by pipe insulation. This is the hardier Live oak variety, not like those in florida and Mississippi, the great southern Live oak. This is the tougher more cold and drier rougher area Live oak tree. This tougher Live oak grows in Missourri, Oklahoma, the drier parts of Texas. It is said to be as hardy as zone 6. I would think that would not be until it is at least a 6-7 ft tree, maybe larger. I am inclined to protect mine until it's too large to be able to do so anymore.
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tropicalzone7
14 years ago
Your welcome!
I figured that such a mature plant would of flowered by now and Im happy to hear it did for you. Good luck!
mnpalms
14 years ago
Forgive me if I missed it, but where is the link, or where can I look to see what is being discussed? Thanks!
islandbreeze
14 years ago
Very nice palm, especially for Quebec! How long have you had it in the ground? How tall was it when you planted it?

Mnpalms, click on the photo galleries link at the top of the page, then click on garden galleries. On the right hand side of the screen, click on the dark green box that says most recent. You will see thumbnails of the palm, click on them.
coconutmike
Original Author
14 years ago
hey guys coconutmike and his montrealplants back again. To answer your question palm had 4 feet trunk when I got it and has 6ft trunk now. Had it inside one year grew slowly but flowered before I put it in. Then I planted it near a pool for a year then moved it to where it is now second year had some shock with transplant bounced back. I do not know how to post pics here, so I put them last time on recent gallery page. Palms are getting quite popular in Montreal now check out montreal palms-plants or landscaping google search- thanks and lets keep pushing the limits . great hobby isn't it. coconutmike
brooklyngreg
14 years ago
Hi Mike,

I saw you had other palms as well. Excellent location for that palm. It get some ground warmth from your basement and also warmth and shelter from the home and a great corner spot for a micro-climate. How cold was your winter this year?

You inspire me that if you can accomplish that in Montreal, I am looking forward to growing a butia pindo outside in Brooklyn, NY. Summers are pretty strong and can be dry here. The butia pindo palm likes that - some heat and dry but not too much.
tropicalzone7
14 years ago
I think you can definitely grow a butia outside. I live in a really similar climate to you and mine went to 23F in its protection and it saw no damage. There also seem to be quite a few healthy ones on staten island, so I say go for it, especially since you did a great job with your windmill palm. Pindo palms seem to be getting more popular for northern palm growers.
Coconut mike is right... Growing plants like these is a great hobby. Its all about testing plants to there limit, and Im glad that so many people give it a try in northern climates.

Good luck everyone, we are now 1/2 a week into spring!
coconutmike
Original Author
14 years ago
HEY BROOKLYNGREG i grew a pindo in montreal this year. 100 palms outside view some pics at youtube -march palms and montreal palms
coconutmike
tropicalzone7
14 years ago
Wow, you got a LOT of palms!!! Congratulations on your success with them. We have a lot of proof that shows that with some TLC, palms can grow in very cold climates, even if you have to protect them from the worst of winter's wrath, its really worth it to me. I get to see my palms for a full 10 months out of the year and protect them on and off for about 2 months. Not very bad considering that most people really have absolutely no idea any palm can survive past the 30s, let alone a zone 7 or colder!

Good luck!
brooklyngreg
14 years ago
Hey Mike, that's an impressive accomplishment(and song lol) for zone 5A and I really like ALL THOSE palms.

What heating source do you use if any, for so many palms? That Pindo looks good too - did you give it a heating source?

I bet planting along the house's warm side adds a zone and covering them so well must add another. That takes you to zone 7. They all pulled thru so well. Was your winter average?
coconutmike
Original Author
14 years ago
Hey Brooklyngreg + tropicalzone 7 -thanks for checking out my pics on youtube or my sites its a fun hobby. Brooklyn-My pindo was actually near a fence far from foundation. I tried a heating cable but it died on me in January. I think we saw -29 C but we were mostly warmer than usual this year and less snow. My chamaerops humilis pulled through also and was on the same heat cable that died and far from foundation-fluke- maybe but it was wrapped up pretty good.
ciao for now --coconutmike

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