I think what you are describing is actually the sheath of a flower cluster. If you leave them alone, they should open up and the flowers will hang down. The flower clusters are actually kind of showy. I leave mine on. Here is a link that might be useful: click here to see a picture of a flower sheath.

It's probably just a little whacked out from the last few cold winters. There are so many variables to consider it's not worth going into them all and quite boring. But(-; Sometimes stresses like cold,root damage,crown damage whatever, can throw the palms seasonal cycle off,so some palms will actually try to seed when the crown is dead and others will put their stored carbs to work regrowing new leaves.... sometimes they will do both but out of their normal rhythm!

Sorry it took me so long to respond, I've been out of town. I'm south of Tampa and actually on the coast, which means warmer temps than the inland areas of zone 9b. Can't even recall the last time we had a freezing temp here. Foxtails are one of the most common palms around here and they thrive. Along with royals, queens, cocounuts, and christmas palms. In fact, there's a large palm farm within a mile of my neighborhood that grows tons of large, healthy palms. Weather is definitely not an issue here. Maybe I just expected too much from my foxtail. All over the neighborhood I see foxtails with 8-10 fronds. I have watched my neighbor's foxtail sprout and open 3 new fronds in the 3 months since it was planted. Perhaps mine is just slower because it's smaller and is just taking longer to get established. I guess time will tell. BTW, the second spear has now caught up in size with the first spear. Starting to wonder which will open first!

Palms may have up to 5 or 6 spears unopened, but they were put up one at a time. Usually there is a "quantum leap" needed - either heat or moisture to get them to open. I can have spears on my Chambeyronia or Kentiopsis sit all winter, then open up once the rain comes. You shouldn't see more than one spear open up at a time unless the palm is a clumper.