This time of year is the WRONG time to plant. You need to plant it out in April after danger of frost / freeze to give it a FULL growing seasons worth of time to develop its root system / establish itself. You would also likely need to protect it further than just xmas lights alone. You would probably need to wrap the palms trunk in burlap, and possibly partially wrap it even up to its leaves. I have seen several methods done for this. You would also most likely want to keep the top protected from rain / snow. Keeping as much moisture out of its crown as possible will help. Siting is another issue. I do not belive they like to be in very wet locations. I would ensure that palm will not be in any standing water for any length of time. A well drained location is best. The palm should also be in a location that is protected from the strong north winter winds. Ideally close in to a building on the sout/ souteast side is best. Any location that helps to retain heat, or has a "microclimate" because of buildings/ concrete / structure will be beneficial.

As for the size, well that is mostly up to you and what you wish to pay. If you are looking for a tree like palm right away, youll want a larger one. They generally run around 100 bucks per foot of clear "trunk". (below the leaves) There is a nursery here that sells windmills with 8-9 clear feet of trunk for around 800 bucks. They are pretty large and impressive trees. The older plant you pick may be more slightly cold hardy, but most of that is going to depend on getting it very well established before its first winter, as well as siting, and winter protection. The nursery here is in a zone 7b/8a and they do have thiers outdoors in very large pots year round, however they do protect them by "tubing" them, and may also use xmas lights or some other low heat source to keep the pots from freezing. Though, pots that large in this area would likely never really freeze anyway.

Once windmills are a bit older, and become established,they can put up 1- sometimes even 2 feet of trunk in one growing season. Good luck with it!

Thanks for the response. I know that the palms in Southern Texas grow deep roots, and that is what concerned me might also be true with Windmill Palms.

This is the issue still causing me to feel uneasy, in terms of how a high water table under the planting bed soil would affect such a Windmill Palm; even if the drainage situation is improved enough to lower, for several feet, this existing water table.

I agree completely with Novaplantguy! I also enjoy a zone 7b/8a climate in the lower end of New Jersey. A researcher in Colorado discovered that soil moisture reduces hardiness in palms so a soggy site would possibly remove several degrees of hardiness even if there was no root rot. Moisture in the crown followed by a hard freeze is real tough on Trachycarpus, at least when they are young (less than two feet of clear trunk. They do seem to be tougher after they get larger.

Good points Novaplantguy; very interesting palmfan; in reference to the Colorado research findings, which documented reduced hardiness of Trachycarpus during freeze episodes at times when the palm's crowns contained generous amounts of moisture.

Last weekend, I ordered a few Chinese Windmill palm seeds. They have been promised to arrive at my door sometime near the end of next week.

So for now, I am wondering where to find detailed instructions; not only concerning what is best done for a successful effort to germinate them, but also what sized pots to start the seeds in, and as the palm spouts and continues to grow, to know what signs I should be looking for, which should reveal to me each time the palm will need to be repotted.