Hi Tom. I Just got some Y. Rostrada today (5 gallon) and it got dark before I can put it in the ground. I don't have your dilemma; I am in Az. I feel your need to put it in the ground. These mature plants are absolutey stunning when they reached 6 feet or taller. I have an idea for you. Plant it near a south wall of your house. This should receive the most sun exposure during the winter month and your brick wall should radiate some heat to protect it. You can always erect some temporary shelter and cover it if needed. Good luck.

Whoa Josh!!! Gee, thanks for all the neat "links" you posted for me!! I was in reading last night for quite a length of time, & there is much info on alot of this stuff! Now, I'm not sure if Missouri's type of foliage & flowers are similar to ours here in Idaho, as I think they might "differ" a bit... mostly due to our Desert climate right in our area. The MOBOT Herbarium Instruction page was a "mind-blower," as it was some really in-depth reading, and I could go for hours on that one! Wow! I was really glad to hear you know what "Prickly-Pear" Cactus' are, because they grow wild here, by the "scads," and alot of folks use them in their rock gardens & such. When roaming or hiking in the mountains or Desert areas around here, you really have to watch where you're stepping, because of the large groups of them that grow everywhere! I've even seen them growing right out of the tops of lava rocks around here... with no soil!!! Too bad I can't figure out a way to get the beautiful blossoms off of them to "press & dry!" (... that would be a real fiasco` though, because of how sharp they are!) You had mentioned the "Yucca" Plant. That is one I am not very familiar with. I did try to grow some "Yucca" at one time out here, but as usual, I had no luck. It is just too dry on our Ranch here. I will have to ask around & see if folks grow any Yucca around here. I have not navigated around on the Site much here yet, since I have been a Member, so haven't went into the "Native forum" yet... but will do that. Thanks. You are right when you stated that right now, we should have a vast array of tiny flowers & things growing out in the Desert here on our Ranch. Always in the Spring time here in our area, everything of Nature is just loaded with many unusual Spring flowers & foliage. I am hoping to get out and pick some wild "Indian Paint Brush" to press & dry, that's for sure! This was something I wanted to do over the Easter week-end, but our weather was really stormy with alot of high gusts of Wind,... so I couldn't get out to do that. I am like you Josh... not only do I like to attempt to press & dry "flowers," but I also like the foliage... alot of it, & am always so interested in dried "leaves" and such. "Moss" fascinates me too!! I was reading on some of the previous "links" you gave to me on various plants, & it was telling how to "skeletonize" leaves & such... That was quite interesting to me! (maybe something I'll have to try sometime, but realize it's also difficult to do.) As far as me "trading" any plants from your area, I would be willing just to send you some of my Western "sage" foliage from out here... because that's all it is, is "leaves," but I would have to "press & dry" some first. Let me know what you think? Thank you for responding & Posting Josh.. it's always good to hear from you, & I will be in reading more of the info in the "links" you sent to me as well. Take care, & I will anticipate hearing from you again~ Warmest regards, ~ IndianPaintBrush ~

Don ..... I grow half and dozen or so Yucca trees here on the east coast and I actually like the look they give more them palms. The grand-daddy of them all in size is the Yucca faxoniana ... huge barking trunk in diameter and very cold and moisture tolerant ..... the Rostratas are nice too, the Yucca elata in my opinion is the most cold and moisture tolerant maybe only second to the Rostrata. Make sure you plant them in well drained soil, do not over water, and you may want to raise the bed a good 6-12 inches .... make sure you identify where the root and trunk lines are and do not plant the yucca above the trunk line, it will rot at the base if you do so ... do not heavy mulch either ... Yuccas are very cold tolerant, more so then palms but they can not stand long period of moisture in the winter months, mulch holds to much moisture around the base, they are better off taking the cold at the cost of keeping as much moisture away from the base. Calplants mail-order in Vegas has large size Yucca trees for sale and ship. Good luck Like another post here ..... Windmill palms, do you protect them in the winter???

GREAT QUESTION JIM! my first memory of palms was at my grandmas house seeing this very tall palms. at the time i didnt no what kind they were but ever since i was very young palms always caught my eye, though i didnt think much of it. my grandmas house is in the city of south El Monte about 15 mins. from downtown LA. i bet most no wut palm am talking about now, good ole mexican fan palm! i think i was about 12 or 13 but i remember asking my dad if we can dig one up at my grandmas house and bring it home since most got mowed anyway and if they made it to their 1st or 2nd year they ended up getting dug up and tossed in the trash, but he said no cuz they get to big & messy =( i never thought about them again. that is until i was 18. i was at my uncles house and a palm caught my eyes, the same one as at my grandmas(still didnt no the name of it.) which is weird cuz i no i came across tons of palms before now but i just notice them again. i started asking him questions about it like how long hes had it for & wut kind it was. he didnt no wut kind of palm it was and said it just grew there. i guess he sensed that i was intrigued by it so he said come back in spring and he'll help me dig it up to take to my house. this time i didnt ask, i just told my parents that i was gona plant a palm tree in the front of the house & that it'll make the house look nice lol! THATS WHEN IT BEGAN! ive been addicted ever since.i wouldnt call it a hobby of mine but a passion. & it kept me out of trouble for the most part. it kind of seems like they were suppose to be in my life in a funny way! i dont no wut i would be doing if they didnt come along & keep me busy. anyways washingtonia robusta were my first palms then phoenix canaries, brahea armata, then at 22 i tried germinating palm seeds for the first time. now 24 years old i grow (most) of my palms i have with over 30 different kinds of palms/cycads & totaling close to over 300. then finding this forum it started getting me into yuccas,cactus,agaves,bananas & now ive come to admire my native joshua trees! tune in to pics now that their starting to fruit!!! everyone on here opened my eyes to different plants. now i cant wait till spring/summer. i got alot to do & grow plus i cant wait to see everyones pics! its gona be a great year, not only does my girlfriend encourage my addiction but she'll buy me palms on my birthdays on holidays & out of the blue palm/seeds gift! wut more could a man want? besides for her to be as simple as me wen it comes to gifts lol! am slowly teaching our daughter everything i no about palms and plants so she one day might admire & love them as much as me but she definitely knows to stay away from the pokey ones & she even has her own palm! which is funny cuz shes only 2-1/2 & by the time shes in high school it'll be like 20ft tall! im looking forward to all those pics & ill post some come spring. i hope winters almost done for all of us(fingers crossed) so we can get back to our lives lol! jk nr!