By
donofriojim1
For my next post, I want to highlight some of the palms that I've come across in the Cincinnati suburbs outside of the ones in my yard. The first picture is of a windmill palm (trachycapus fortunei) on the eastern side of town. According to the grower, this specimen has endured three winters in the ground with minimal protective measures. His protection for this palm is only a heating cable around the trunk and a frost cloth. This picture was taken in late spring, 2019. It had completely defoliated during January,2019 when temps did drop below zero. The palm started to rebound very quickly. The second picture is the same palm this spring shared to me by the grower with the heating cable still on the trunk and a fully recovered crown.
The next several pictures are from a grower just a stones' throw away from me in the northern Cincinnati suburbs. This grower has some truly wonderful exotics that most nursery staff would say are a waste of time and money in his yard that have proven to be as reliable as tulips simply from protection for wind, placing in the sunniest spots, and extra mulch. The first of these pictures from his yard is a rare true trachycarpus takil that he raised for seed. It has also been in the ground for three years and is only protected by being covered with a mound of straw, no added heat. The other pictures are winter time pictures of his needle palm and sabal minor, He unlike me, does take some protective measures. His protective measures are just covering the trunk of the plant with straw while leaving all leaves exposed. these needle palms and sabal minor have been in the ground since 2006 and laughed off the vortex years.