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what zone are you in? im in 7a and a pindo is probably pushing it here, also. The area does get a lot of winter wind protection, which I think will help.
Borderline Zone 7/8. It arrived and is a fine specimen. Its in a very sunny spot near the brick side of the house. Needles to say, it will be shields up during the winter.
Yeah the windmill palm does not like to be transplanted into sand. They are tolerant of bad soil but the sand is high in alkaline and could have bacteria unless thoroughly cleaned, I am sorry for the loss. There is how ever a website that has much more info about the windmill palm. Its called windmillpalmtrees.com, kind of funny right, but at least its good info on that palm so maybe next time it wont happen
Well, its a sad day for me. I think my Windmill perished when we had that 5° low temperature on that frigid January morning. I have waited and waited for some type of new growth, but nothing. Today in frustration I decided to cut off the dead and crispy fronds and did that "spear tug" thing and the spear pulled out. I have been told that if this happens, its likely dead, but some have said even with spear pull, they have recovered. The base of the spear was a gooey mess. It was soggy and had bugs all over it.
I thought after 5 years it had became a little more established. It survived 8° lows twice before without damage, so I guess I never dreamed that 5° would destroy it. Strange that others had survived even colder temps without protection.
I MAY buy another and be more careful, but after this, I dont know if I want to deal with another one again.
Well, its a sad day for me. I think my Windmill perished when we had that 5° low temperature on that frigid January morning. I have waited and waited for some type of new growth, but nothing. Today in frustration I decided to cut off the dead and crispy fronds and did that "spear tug" thing and the spear pulled out. I have been told that if this happens, its likely dead, but some have said even with spear pull, they have recovered. The base of the spear was a gooey mess. It was soggy and had bugs all over it.
I thought after 5 years it had became a little more established. It survived 8° lows twice before without damage, so I guess I never dreamed that 5° would destroy it. Strange that others had survived even colder temps without protection.
I MAY buy another and be more careful, but after this, I dont know if I want to deal with another one again.
Sorry to hear that. One of mine took a beating and while quite alive, is shell shocked. It was a brutal winter and I had dug it up from my parents' house an moved it to mine. I gave it a thick helping of mulch, but little else. I reckon she will recover, but progress has been delayed.
Tomorrow I dig up and move two more. They are 7 years old and are getting quite large.
Give it another try. All kinds of trees perish for all kinds of reasons.
Location: somewhere close to Tampa, but closer to the beach
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Sorry to hear the news.. i was hoping it would pull through..ohwell, chalk this one up to experience..and remember that by working with marginal material, you are doing what the pioneers of the horticultural world did in the past to get many of the plants we love to our gardens and table tops..all people who have this same spirit continue to push boundries and will uncover yet many more surprises..just don't give up..its all about trial and error..
Though i can't remember if you'd said, how large was the windmill when you obtained it?..i ask because you might start with a larger specimen..if this past one was obtained small...if you can..
Im getting ready for a trip to So Cal to obtain several somewhat experimental palms ( a couple species of Chamaedorea, Dypsis, and Roystonea bouq. which has been reported to handle our cool wet winter conditions better then R. regia by some other local palm collectors ) as well as several orchids reported to take temps. down to 22-24f (which we rarely see)..which can be mounted to and will grow onto tree branches..im excited about these especially since many people in this part of CA. will swear that only Cymbidiums will survive outdoors here..can't wait to prove them wrong..
Though i can't remember if you'd said, how large was the windmill when you obtained it?..i ask because you might start with a larger specimen..if this past one was obtained small...if you can..
Here is a photo when I got it - 5 years ago I think... maybe 6. It grew alot... survived every winter well. I was suprised that 5° killed it. Maybe there is still hope. I cut all of the dead off of it. We will wait and see now.
This is when I bought it.... 2003 I think...
after I planted in in 2003...
Here it was last winter...
I think this was last year...
I will take another photo if it currently tomorrow.
I wonder how these palms (25 miles west of here) held up this winter? This was take last winter...
I may go tomorrow and buy another one anyway and be more careful this time.
I moved the other two 7 year old windmill palms from my parents' place to mine. Both fared better than the aforementioned one, but both took some damage as well. The tallest (5 feet) had its spear destroyed, so I pulled it out. Looks great otherwise- go figure. The other had some fringe frost damage, but no spear damage. Hopefully they will adjust.
I found a blog from some guy who grows hardy palms around here. He writes that this past winter caused some serious damage to his flock. So we are all in the same boat.
Location: somewhere close to Tampa, but closer to the beach
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Tennessee,
After looking at the photos, yeah, im also a little surprised that it got knocked down..since it appears as though it had a pretty good start..
The one thing i noticed (from the pictures) was the hill in the background which im guessing slopes down from the house??..Im wondering if perhaps it might have influenced the degree of cold air which effected the windmill..if the palm was planted lower down on it..
Even though it should have been well established,and able to take such extreme temperture exposure,after being in th ground 5+ years..its possible that if it was somewhere where the coldest air could pool or diddn't drain away quickly enough ..it might have stayed cold just long enough to severely..if not fatally (time will tell) damage it..
If you attempt another, id try a spot higher up if possible..just so that if tempertures next winter do reach similar lows as this past year, the coldest air will not have a chance to sit around it..and you can rule out this factor in your palm growing attempts..
Moth,
keep a close eye on the palm which you removed the center spear from..while it's possible it will grow new shoots , remember that the center spear is the growing point for all palms..and that removing it can be the death of the palm..
older now-green foliage can remain that way for months after the meristem (center spear) is taken..before the tree finally declines..
If the trunk remains firm and you see signs of developing new growth, consider yourself lucky..
for the others, don't attempt fertilizing them for at least 6 weeks..aside from a weak starter/root stimulator solution..a well known palm expert stresses this in one of his planting guides on his site..
Lastly, though im sure ive shared this advise before..an easy way to monitor the progress of newly planted palms is to place a horizontal line across the newest emerging spear and closest older stalks with a permanent black marker..and watch to see how much that line moves (or doesn't) in relation to the mark on the older nearby stalk..Ive been doing this with my king palm..and are expecting (from the degree of observed movement of the newest spear) that it should soon start opening..ive used symbols on each of the marks ive made and have about 12-14 inches of pushed development on the newest spear from the first (and oldest) mark to the mark on the non growing adjacent stalk.
The last mark i made back in early April has moved about 5-7 inches since that time..especially since i gave it a little chelated iron and a dash of epsom salt..
I'll be using the same technique when i install a couple more palms in the same landscape in a few weeks..think in gonna add a Foxtail and either a Teddybear palm (Dypsis leptochelios) or a Puerto rican royal..haven't made up my mind just yet..my little king needs some buddies to talk to..
...And yes, whatever i decide to add..i'll post pictures..as well as others from my upcomming trip to the palm nursery down south..can't wait!!!
Thanks for the advice. I had no choice as the spears were rotted and about to turn to mush.
My spear pulled too and it was mushy... and had what looked like maggots on it!
I bet it has perished. I will wait awhile to see what happens though.
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I have been told that if this happens, its likely dead, but some have said even with spear pull, they have recovered. The base of the spear was a gooey mess. It was soggy and had bugs all over it. 
