Trachycarpus, Chinese Fan Palm, Chusan Palm, Windmill Palm 'Nainital'

This variety of ‘Fortunei’ seems to be about 5 degrees (give or take) hardier than the original species. I have seen a couple people ...Read Morearound Salt Lake City, Utah (zone 7b) growing this palm successfully outside without protection, besides a south facing wall and wind protected location. I have seen the normal ‘fortunei’ grown without protection here but it does seem to get damaged pretty badly some winters, mostly from the dry winds but they still hold on. This and a few other palms (Rhapidophyllum, T. Wagnerianus) are the only palms i’ve seen successfully grown outside without protection around Salt Lake, and still look attractive. I would only consider this if you have a south facing wall and a protected location from wind, and are in the 7b area of Salt Lake Valley. ‘Nainital’ is without a doubt one of the most cold hardy trunking palms on earth. I would recommend giving it a try in a drier zone 7b, and 7a with a little protection. GREAT PALM!

In early 2000's i was sold a trachycarpus which we all thought was a takil but in actuality was a NainiTal,

despite the n...Read Moreame error, it is still from the same areas as takil and very very hardy

mine has survived in zone 6 Woodbury CT since then and is still growing strong

I do protect it every year

I wish everyone would describe hardiness of a plant in several stages: while a seedlings, while a young plant, a larger plant but still w...Read Moreithout much trunk and then an adult plant. This same palm as a small 1 footer can get damaged by temperatures that are much warmer than 5F. Make it a new default standard and lots of new research.

Some plants while small can get killed by 32F or below (or above), yet some can withstand down to 20F more or less as seedlings. This kind of research and info is important to provide along hardiness for adults palms. Giving hardiness info (USDA zones and temperatures) just for adult plants is not enough to get the entire picture.

Mine as a 1 ft. plant got exposed to 12F and has its fronds dried, but is not dead yet and the spear does not pull.

Bought a 3-4 year old Trachy in 2005 from a grower In Dallas and had it shipped to my home in the Chicago area. In spring of 06 I planted...Read More it on the south facing of my house. It stood about 3 feet tall in the ground and had no trunk. As of 2013 the trunk is roughly 6 ft with a crown reaching to 9+ ft in height.

My Trachy always gets leaf damage in winter due to my light on overwintering methods, but looks excellent by spring. To overwinter I simply place a long 2x4 vertically next to the trunk and bungee cord it at different places on the trunk to keep it steady. I secure a thick towel to the top of the wooden 2x4 to prevent the plastic sheet from tearing. Last, I drape a large piece of plastic over the 2x4 like a tent and place a few bricks at the base. In the future I will only cover the crown. The trunk gets a strand of rope lights. The whole process takes 15-30 mins tops. Overwintering starts when the first night dips below 15 or 20, usually mid-to-late December, and stays on until around March 1. Roughly 60-75 days.

The trick to trachy's is keeping them dry when it's super cold. I remember my first overwintering involved 3 garbage cans and a tarp. We saw -20F that first winter and my trachy saw only 20% leaf burn. Keep the spear especially dry. The only leaf burn I could see was in areas where snow and frost had excessively bonded to the plant during that cold snap. Otherwise snow typically does nothing besides weigh down the leaves (which looks super cool!).

Trim off any severely damaged leaves by April 1 and water this palm as much as you can. I fertilize with a palm feed by Miracle Grow once I'm spring.

I love my trachy, and 60 days inside plastic is worth the awesomeness of having a palm in Chicago!

The pic below is from winter 2011-12
http://postimg.org/image/brwxa4k9z/