review cheap hotels.

Here is a link that might be useful: discount hotel rates

Any new info on these palms? It is now December.

I would also be very interested in seeing an update. Is there a webcam in vicinity perhaps? Currently 16F in Des Moines and winter is just starting.

Regarding this thread, I just went down to the beach to see how some large palms were faring by this time of year. Homeowner had planted them in his front and side yards, and I was curious if he/she had planned to do anything for them by Winter. That is...protect them or dig them up. I posted pics back in June. Anyway, sad to say, they are all still sitting there fried to toast. Coconut, christmas, and some pygmy dates. Won't post the ghastly remains...but one is still holding its own, some burn at the ends of the fronds, but otherwise still healthy looking. As an example of cold damage, we have had it pretty easy so far. Maybe below freezing once or twice overnight, and low 40's for a few days. Now, I understand the species I described above are not at all suited to our climate, so it's obvious what was inevitable...but how about this guy. This pic is from June.

{{gwi:1144453}}

I would imagine the headline from Des Moines now would be palm trees planted in front of hotel DEAD!however I think it would be very cool if even one survived and became the new standard for trachycarpus hardiness,I can't imagine there are any growing in a place with colder winters.

Jim, how far are you from Des Moines? For me its a 6 hour drive...been to the city twice. Maybe you could get out there and take pictures for all of us wondering what's happening to those palms. I'm wondering if they did protect them.

Wx,its about 3 hrs from me,I am in the far south east corner of Iowa.They may have wrapped them in x-mas lights and plastic but I don't think that would be enough.I read in the weather discussion that we may see -10F next thursday(single digit highs) and colder over the following weekend!we are definitely headed into some serious winter weather-

Wx,its about 3 hrs from me,I am in the far south east corner of Iowa.They may have wrapped them in x-mas lights and plastic but I don't think that would be enough.I read in the weather discussion that we may see -10F next thursday(single digit highs) and colder over the following weekend!we are definitely headed into some serious winter weather-

Remember that palm blog link I posted in the beginning of this thread? Well, I checked it, and they wrapped em! Here is what they did:
From the blog:

"We have wrapped the trees in heat tape, then foil backed insulation, then burlap to make them look natural, and then christmas lights. so far, we have had to be careful not to over heat the trees. we also put heat tape in the ground around the trees to keep the rootball from freezing. does any one have any suggestions on what to do with the fronds???? I will post more pictures as they become available."

U can check out the blog and the pics they posted at the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Iowa Palms Blog

Anyone know how these are doing?

I just drove to that hotel this afternoon (Sunday, 02/08/2009). All of them are still wrapped up, but much of the foilage was completely exposed. I couldn't tell if some of the foilage was underneath the wrapping. All the exposed foliage was hangning downward, very limp, completely brown. It did not look good.

Is it possible to dig up and store larger windmills every year and plant them in the spring? Or would disturbance to the root ball cause shock? How would they do?

I think they go into decline trying that.They wrapped the trunks so even if the crown wasn't wrapped they could come back with a fungicide treatment and an operation,big palms have a lot more stored food to pull from,that being said this was a tough winter(notice the word was) I am sure Des Moines hit at least -20F.probably more than once!

dln949, are you close to that hotel? Can you get pics and post them? Im dying to see what they look like now. If the crowns are still exposed I would think that would greatly reduce the palms chances of making it. Im really hoping they make it through!

Sorry nova, I'm over three hours away from Des Moines. We were just passing through on Sunday. So, no pictures. But I can tell you that they looked like hell. In fact, I would say that, from the way the exposed foliage appeared, they look like they're dead. I'll be amazed if they are alive this summer.

dln949

As we said last fall, exposed windmills could not survive a winter in Des Moines, especially this winter. They are absolutely dead, as they could not survive days below 0F, and a month or more at a time below freezing. What a shame, they looked nice in front of that hotel.
-Michael

That makes me very sad to hear, and a little bit angry. The guy was WARNED by me, and others, on his very own blog, that leaving the crowns exposed like they were in the photos of them wrapping them up, would likely result in death. Im also a bit baffled at why the decided to put them in so late in summer, im sure that did not help their cause at all.

So basically it sounds to me like they left them as the photos indicated from when they were wrapping them. Is that correct? If so, I would not expect them to survive. I hope that at last some pull through, but I would not be surprised of they all did not make it. I know they spent considerable time (days? weeks?) below zero F, and at some point went down to as much as -15 to -20. Jimhardy, or anyone else out there can confirm this?

Man, what a damn waste!!! 39 palms! That is enough to give most of the "regular" posters here one each, and I KNOW that it would survive where I am at for sure.

What a shame in deed.

Anyone who can get pics of those palms.. please post them. We would all love to see. Im wodering if the guy is even going to bother to update his blog once he finds out his protection methods failed.

This is *NOT* a photo of the palm trees at the Des Moines hotel, but, it gives you an idea of what we saw.

If you look at this picture referenced by the URL below, cover up ALL green foliage with one hand, so all you see is the yucky, brown, dead stuff. Now, that is exactly how all the exposed foliage on the palm trees at the hotel in Des Moines looked.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b350/JamesABQ/riofilibusta.jpg

dln949

I forgot to add - yes, the trunks are still wrapped just as shown in the pictures on the blog, but the foliage was completely exposed.

Here is the temperature graph for Des Moines for 12/01/2008 - 01/31/2009:

[IMG]http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm101/dln949/DesMoinesDecandJanTemps.jpg[/IMG]

Trying to post the temperature graphic again:

Chech it out-

Here is a link that might be useful: Des moines(Jan)

Well, there are always plastic palms...

And people

Anyone been able to get to this place and get some pics?

Im starting to suspect that perhaps the blogger may not post as much if all his palms die.

Just wondering.

I'm going to Galena on the 21st. I read that Galena is near the border of Iowa. So I guess, I can continue driving up to that place and take pictures of their palm trees.

However, where else in IOWA can I bring my family(14 yr old and below kids) to make it a really nice vacation?

I look forward to those pictures.

Galena is quite a distance up (northeast) from Des Moines-
He posted on UBC and I asked him about what he did to protect the leaves/crowns but he has not replied yet,I will let you know if he does

Yep, I looked at it few minutes ago and it's about 5 hours from my place. Also, we changed our plans last night. We'll go straight to Minneapolis instead then drop by Galena on our way home.

Galena is a very cool little town,I go on a bicycle tour that goes right through it and I always enjoy stopping there,when are you going?

We'll be at Galena on the March 23. Minneapolis first from March 20 to 22. Thanks.

Has anyone been by the Holiday Inn in W. Des Moines recently? I am very curious to see how the palms made it through the winter. Anyone have any recent pictures to post? (Late April 2009) I'm in the SE portion of the twin cities, and have been tempted to take a road trip down there and see them. Anyone here able to save me the trouble?

I took this from a cached version of a page from DesMoinesRegister.com. The original page has been deleted. The owner seems optimistic but I doubt any of these trees survived. If even one tree survives I wouldn't expect much growth this summer at all. They should've protected the whole tree. Not just the trunks.

Jay

Hmmmmmm.....

That article is dated 02/03/2009. I was there, looking at them up close and personal, on 02/06/2009.

Well, you know what? They may be alive, and they may see another winter, I guess I don't know. But, you know what else? They *looked* dead to us. Even if they aren't dead, they looked dead. And I think that is important, because.....

I think the goal aint merely to coax some plant to eeke by with a few shards of tissue with cellular activity still in them. I think the goal is to have a darn nice looking palm tree growing in zone 4 or 5 or whatever. I don't want a dead-looking alive tree, I want an alive tree that *looks* like it is alive.

If my palm tree came out of the winter looking like what we saw, I'd be very disappointed.

I can't help but think that for some reason they didn't understand what would happen. With over 30 palm trees, I would have at least tried a variety of methods to protect them, instead of just one method. (That's what it looked like to me.)

I'm scheduled to be back down there in early June, so if none you makes it there before then, I can take some photos. The trick will be getting myself to remember to pack the camera, I'm not in my forties anymore.

dln949

I think June will give a better idea of where these trees stand,it's really about how much they can recover at this point,trees that size have a lot of stored food/energy.Long term survival depends on recovery this year and better protection next winter, if any pull through.

I'm betting some will survive, (barely) but it is so sad to think that some/many of the 30+ won't make it. They spent over $30,000 on those trees! I'd kill for one that size in my yard. I'd be out there every day, even in January carefully inspecting it, talking to it, etc...

Being that big, too big for the foam box method, they should have at least did a mummy wrap thing, more than just the trunk, something to protect the crown/fronds. Something like what that Iowa guy does/did with his washingtonia(s) in his yard. I understand he was very successful with that method.

$30,000+ is a lot of money to throw away, and it's like murder to let trees like that die!

Any updates? Anyone see how they look as of now (Late May 2009) I'm quite curious.

My guess is that none, or hardly any survived. I have posted like 3 comments in the past 2 months to that blog, and NONE of them have been "posted". (that have comment moderation on requiring the blog's author to approve them.)

IT seems to me that if the author had some sort of success, they would have wanted to show it off by now. I know I should would have, even if only 1/2 of them survived. Sad to see nothing has been posted since last December. Oh well.

I doubt the windmills survived. Maybe if they protected them well some neddles may have made it barely. I guess palms cant grow in Iowa unless given the right protection.

I agree the silence is suspicious. I'm sure there would have been something, at least if some survived. Still, I'm wondering if maybe they all defoliated and look like crap, but some might still be alive? When I did my homework on these trees, since I am now growing a mature 7-footer in ground here in MN, I did find studies where mature ones do survive temps to -15F and below. Key word "survive". That survival including almost complete defoliation, but trees bouncing back by late summer. So now they have 30 or so lifeless stumps, maybe a few will push out a new frond or two by fall. I bet that was not what they had in mind for the landscape project...

I wish I had the time to drive down there and see. I hope someone here lives close enough to do that soon, and post pictures. I'm in the southeast Twin Cities, Des Moines is a bit of a drive.

From the web page link I show at the bottom of this posting:

"I am sorry for the delay in posting. It has been an extremely busy winter for me, both professionally and personally. And a not so good winter for the trees. Our efforts to keep them warm were overly successful, and we overheated them. They did not have sufficient time to recover from the shock of transplanting before a very harsh Iowa winter hit them. The gentleman that sold them to us is a man of integrity and is honoring his one year warranty on the trees, so they are being replaced this week. We have decided that the palms on the west side of the building will be replaced with deciduous trees, rather than palms, as they take the severest weather. Your support and interest is very appreciated."

From what I saw last February I would never have thought that they were overheated.

dln949

Here is a link that might be useful: Plam Trees at Hotel in Iowa

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!

Well, yesterday evening - Thursday, 06/11/2009 - we were at the hotel in question in Des Moines. I actually remembered to bring my camera, but alas, I have no pictures to offer. That is because every single palm tree is gone. They've all been dug up, all that remains is over 30 windmill holes in the ground.

dln949

Must be very diappointing. They planted them way too late, and it was a cold winter even by des moines standards. I guess you cant plant palms in that climate unless you are willing to give each and every one lots of attention, and costly protection.

Apparently the palms are all being replaced-

Hopefully not by more palms. Even most trunking yuccas stand little chance if no protection is given (such as a wind block)

This was an assenine move and a waste for the nursey guy and the hotel. It looks like they didn't even protect the leaves. Even with the trees dead they make lousy speculations on what damaged them. I think subzero cold touching the surface of the plant, freezing it to the core could have had some effect.

Yesterday (Saturday, 08/22/2009), I was in the Des Moines area and stopped by the hotel. It looks like nearly all of the windmill palms have been replaced with new windmill palms, each about 6' - 10' tall. It looked like each one of them is staked.

I wonder what the plan is to protect them this coming winter.

dln949

Place them in the lobby for the winter by placing large pots and fork lift them to the outside in April/May.

.......nothing to say here. Well, execpt that PETA is for animals, but what organization is for the ethical treatment of Palms???

Those palms were guarantied buy the seller.One prob was that they (as far as I know)only covered/heated the trunks and not the foliage.That was a costly lesson for someone.better luck this time.It can be done if they mulch and protect right!