Those really are some of the worst palms I've ever seen. You guys should stick with the yuccas for a semi-tropical look. It's sad to think that people actually put a lot of work into pushing the envelope to get palms to survive up there-just barely. A washingtonia growing on the side of the freeway in Phoenix with no extra water or whatever looks better then one in Albuquerque given water, fertilizer, ect... It just doesn't make sense. With palms, the crown is the most important part. If the crown freezes back every winter and you have to wait three or four months for it to grow back then it seems like you have a telephone pole in your yard for a large portion of the year.

id rather have an OK looking palm than no palm at all

I have to agree with superman. True, palms here tend to get a little burnt in winter, but they all recover come spring, usually a lot faster than 3-4 mos. Besides, I'll take a few frostbitten palms over Phoenix heat and sprawl any day! ;)

plus phoenix just sucks

AZ amigo, I just read your note about palms in albuq, and to be honest with you. That was a tad on the rude side. I honestly have lived both cities and I will still pick pushing the envalope in Albuq, thats part of the fun and part of being a daring gardener. If it werent for gardeners like us, most of those pretty palms you see growing around you simply would not be there. People like us exparament to see what can grow. Besides I know whats native to AZ and its all very pretty but face it, most of what grows there in your urban area's is not even native anyways. All im saying is apreciate, dont hate!

Hey, these are fun...thanks for sharing the pics. I'm always surprised at what diverse climates those windmills (Trachycarpus fortunei) will tolerate. I grew a bunch back in Seattle, Washington, and I see them all around here in the Phoenix metro too. Talk about versatility! I've always favored them over other palms as I like the furry trunks.

In all of my trips to ABQ (choosing between being transferred to ABQ or to PHX was like choosing between your two very favorite plants), I haven't noticed any of these windmills. I'm going to have to keep my eyes open.

Any other good specimens around town? I've got a trip coming up so would love to see.

Oh, by the way, I'm guilty of being one of those experimental gardeners too (hey, I have a great compost pile thanks to some failures, heh heh). I live in a sub-tropical zone where I can grow all sorts of fun things, but I always end up test-driving some truly tropical plants that I know I shouldn't. Most have been failures, but some have been nice surprises. It's fun to see who is trying what where.

In any case, I love the pics...I wish I did as good a job on composition of the pics. Some of my favorite pics of my garden back in Seattle were of my windmills covered with the occasional snow.

Take care,
Grant

one final note on zoos: whenever I visit the Phoenix zoo I'm always irritated that some animal is standing in front of a such-and-such plant. I definitely go there to see the interesting plantings, not the animals, heh heh. Crazy, I know.

LOL, if you want to see a really awful looking palm tree, my backyard has one. I just can't bear to chop it down because there are a thousand birds nesting in the skirt.

I can see Grant now,waving his arms and yelling at the rhino "D'ya mind? Could you just scootch over a lleeeeettttle bit, pllllleeeeeeaaaase???"

>grinJust moved my sister here from Albuquerque in September. I think she'll miss ya'll next summer....anyway, enjoy your zoo, it looks some folks have put a lot of work into it.

There are a few other large windmill palms around Albuquerque including one in the shade of some large trees that looks fabulous with many fronds. I can't give you street names though because I was riding in a car with someone who was giving me a tour of cool plants in ABQ.

About the palms in Albuquerque-I wasn't trying to insult anyone, everyones got their own deal as far as what they want to put in their yard. I think that's what is so great about older parts of town vs. new developments with nazis as an HOA board. People over here in Phoenix do the same things with plants, but instead of the cold killing them it is the heat. Things like gardenias and magnolias aren't too fond of our hot, dry summers. The one benefit is that many areas are virtually frost free so you can plant tropical plants that really love the heat and not be worried about the winter killing them. Things like tropical hibiscus and bananas have a much, much better chance of thiving in our summers than things like gardenias. And of course citrus just love it over here-drinking some of my own hand squeezed OJ while I'm typing this....I've always thought that the most difficult place to garden would be places like Vegas and Tucson. It gets really cold in Vegas during the winter and it can get pretty cold in Tucson as well, but both areas get super hot during the summer too. The tropical plants that can handle the summers are killed by the winters and the stuff that is frost hardy gets fried in the summer.