Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Skytrekker is correct. Perhaps give it another go? Get some seeds and start one inside and plant it outside next spring. I managed to get one up from seed although it remains in a pot. I planted three outside around 5 or 6 years ago and they are flourishing. However, the valley that is Washington, DC is a bit more milder than where you are.
And make sure you protect it during those brutal Mass winters.
We have a Windmill Palm that is doing great . We are in NC and it
was about 3 ft when we planted it and now 4 years later it is
almost 12 ft .
We are wondering how to get seeds from it and also what fertilizer
would be good for it. We will try to post a photo soon.
Can't wait to send pictures of ours.
One reason we are so proud of them is because of how many other
plants we have killed over the years. We don't know alot about plants
so we are always wondering.. 'do we prune that?, do we feed it?,
wonder why it died? LOL.
My two windmill palms a Fortunei and Wagnerianus (stiff leafed variety) Are growing here in Connecticut like weeds. Very robust growth-putting out beautiful fan leaves.
These palms are surely semi hardy here now- officially still a zone 6 here-unofficially a zone 7.
In DC: There are two growing in my parents' front yard and 5 growing in mine. I have also sighted a good specimen growing in somone's front yard near RCP. And I have seen an impressive display of Needle Palms growing in front of a townhouse in Mt Pleasant.
We are living in Portland Oregon and are wanting to know how others take care of their windmill palms-we just cut off the pods that grow in the spring but other than that we fertilize a couple times a year. Anything else we should be doing? Any input would be great-we bought our property two years ago and have bamboo, bananas and palms-love it!
No, give it another try, but simply plant it in the ground. I think your dad can still have his palm. I live in northeast Tennessee and have had one for 4 years and its flourished! I think the sand "smothered" yours out. Simply plant it in the ground and mulch it this winter. Where in MA are you? It should survive in eastern MA, but maybe not western MA if it gets real cold.
These will endure temps as low as about 0° - 5° I am told, but may need some protection. We have not been below 13° since I had had mine (which were record lows), but mine did fine. Last year, some fronds did brown up because we had a wet snow (we do not get much), but I did not knock it off and it weighed it down and some browned, but it came back with a vengeance this summer.
Photos below...
Give it another try and keep us posted! Good luck!
Quote:
Originally Posted by surfingatwork
My dh has always wanted a palm tree so for his birthday i bought him a windmill palm tree (we live in massachusetts). it looks like it's dying. It gets lots of sun (the picture was taken at night) and plenty of water. My dh put sand (from the beach) around the base of it (don't know if this is the reason it's dying). Is there something he's doing wrong or is it just you can't grow them in Massachusetts?
Here was mine in early spring of last year...
Here is it in early August and its grown much more since this....
When we have ice or snow here (which is seldom, I go out and shake the ice/snow off of the leaves).
Yeah, I highly recommend that. I live in extreme northeastern Tennessee and we do not get much snow either (more than Charlotte though), but last year we did get a wet snow, about 2 inches and it weighed mine down... we then had lows in the teens and it damaged some of my fronds. From here on in, I will be more careful.
Our Lowes does not carry them. I had to get mine at Evergreen Showplace, which is a local greenhouse. I have emailed Lowes in the past and requested these.
Moth, Do you have any pictures of your trachycarpus fortunei? I grow musa basjoo, sabal minor, livistona chinesis, Rhapidophyllum hystrix, and soon nannorrhops ritchiana. here in my zone 5a, however if anyone would like to see pictures, check out, Webshots - Photo Sharing, Free Wallpaper and Free Screensavers and type in Ottawa_hardy_tropicals
I think its great to see someone in 5a growing palms! Keep up the good work!
Is a Chinese Fan Palm the same as a Windmill? I have one in a big pot on my front porch, but no longer have space to winter it inside. I live in Denver, so it typically gets down to 0 or -5 a couple times each winter. I have a musa basjoo that's done well, but never tried a palm.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Windmill Palms
I live in northeast Tennessee and have had one for 4 years and its flourished! I think the sand "smothered" yours out. Simply plant it in the ground and mulch it this winter. Where in MA are you? It should survive in eastern MA, but maybe not western MA if it gets real cold. 
Our Lowes does not carry them. I had to get mine at Evergreen Showplace, which is a local greenhouse. I have emailed Lowes in the past and requested these.
