Well its hard to say at this point because, although you did take many precautions to protect them, in a zone 7/6 climate (depending on what part of NJ you are in, Windmill palms don't need as much protection as a 5/4 climate. Although we did have a tough winter this year, they probably would have been fine without the light. A good trunk wrap and some Christmas lights would have been fine. What I would do at this point is try to preserve any green left on the plant by spraying it with fungicide. also try to keep moisture out of the spear area as it may rot the bud. make sure the palm gets water from the roots and protect the crown with burlap if temps go below 10F. If all of that fails, chuck the condition of the trunk, If it is mushy down to the base its a gonner, but if not cut the top of the trunk off and it should regrow much like and elephant ear or banana. I am happy to see that people in the area are interested in T.fortunei as much as I am. Hope your palm survives -Dave P.S we should have a much milder winter next year :)

I bought a coconut (without its husk) from a supermarket in Montreal Canada 3 weeks ago and didn't know whether I should eat it or try growing it. After almost a week I removed it from its plastic wrapping and gave it a shake listening to all its milk swishing around inside. I thought to myself.."how can I get this thing to grow without a husk???" First thing I did was soak it in very hot water everyday for 2 weeks. I would then remove it from sitting in water for up to 3 hours a day and place it inside a sealed plastic bag (to trick it into thinking the plastic bag was its husk) with lots of air inside. I then sat it with its 3 eyes pointed up inside the bag and mounted onto a coffee cup into a corner of the room. Everyday I would continue the hot water procedure and then put it back into its bag sitting on the coffee cup. After about a week of doing this 1 of the 3 flat eyes suddenly swelled up and popped out like a nipple. After a couple days of putting it into the hot water bath..suddenly (today) the nipple wood gave way and behind it was a white sprout like a potato's eye sprout. This is where the story ends because I'm going to plant it and watch what happens..but so far my "grocery store" coconut is showing promise. The idea is to trick it into believing that it has its husk by placing it into a sealed tight plastic bag and letting the humidity increase around it and kick it into action. I will keep you all posted! :-)

I wonder if they were actually "overheated"... It makes sense that they did not have enough time to recover from transplant shock though, as they were planted too late in the season. Trees that size will be tough to protect, and they better be planning to cover/tie the fronds this time, not just the trunks. They need to do at least what the Iowa palms guy does/did to winter his larger palm(s). If he can get washingtonias through an Iowa winter, the trachys should be doable. Big job though! By the way, thanks for posting the follow-up dln949!

It appears that eli17zn6 has a great suggestion. After researching it looks like the Phoenix Theoprastii or the Cretan date would be a better choice in Columbia SC. We are on the border between 8a and 8b. This plant looks like the Canary Island but may be more cold hardy. Now if I could only find a place to buy this plant with some size on it. I don't care to try to start from seed. Does anyone have any idea where I could purchase a nice plant? Thanks for your help and input- George