Trachycarpus, Bulgarian Windmill Palm, Chusan Palm 'Bulgaria'

This is the only cultivar of Trachycarpus fortunei (besides wagnerianus) that will survive here in Salt Lake City, Utah (zone 7b) without...Read More any protection whatsoever. I have only seen two regular windmills survive without protection here for more than 5 years and they are in EXTREMELY protected locations that give them a very good microclimate. But the ‘Bulgarian’ strain has survived here without issue planted out in extremely exposed windy locations. Keep in mind the place I live in zone 7b is a mild, and dry 7b and rarely gets colder than 10-15 degrees F. And if it does get to 10 F, it never gets that cold for longer than about 3 days consecutively at the very most. And it only hits 10 F for a few hours in the early morning. It also usually warms to 40 or above most days in winter. I’m not sure if this palm would do as well on the east coast in zone 6b/ 7, with the wet and humid cold. But I could be completely wrong! Definitely a palm worth trying out for a person who likes to zone push!

These are very handsome palms that have been developed here, in Bulgaria, and have been thriving in many places. They differ markedly fro...Read Morem the regular windmills by having a much shorter petiole, although not as short as the ones waggies have. The leaves, however, do tend to droop like normal windmills.
I have been growing 5 individuals of this strain in my garden in Krapets, and 2 individuals in pots in Sofia. The ones in Krapets were planted in the spring of 2006 and have attained various heights by now. They are robust growers and have fared well through all winters so far. Some lost their spears, but regrew, and one got mown over by a lawn mower! It was severely set back by that incident, but is still alive and growing.
The two in pots have grown just as well. What else...these are on the whole very reliable and ornamental palms.