Windmill Palm with age

[Palmettos]

Those of you who have windmill palms "Trachycarpus Fortunei", could you please upload a photo of them along with their age?

[Fusca]

Sorry, I thought I had a pic of my Trachycarpus in San Antonio I had grown from seed but it was the wrong photo.  I imagine most folks here buy juvenile palms at a nursery or big box store and have no idea of its age from seed.  Hopefully you'll get better help than what I provided!

 

[Las Palmas Norte]

I planted these from small 2 gallon plants in October 2002, so 22½ years ago.

 

[Harry’s Palms]

This was a 10” pot size about ten years ago. Harry

‘This was a year or so ago. Full sun since planted.

[Zone7Bpalmguy]

On 4/27/2025 at 4:39 PM, Palmettos said:

Those of you who have windmill palms "Trachycarpus Fortunei", could you please upload a photo of them along with their age?

Here's mine in video form, along with how they looked in a picture within the video of when I first planted them. 

 

[MIKE82397]

Here's my largest windmill on the right. It was in a pot in  nov. of 21'. 

2nd pic is aug of 22'

3rd pic apr. of 24

and 4th pic 5 minutes ago.

So the last 2 pics are one year apart

The 2nd year I bet that largest windmill put on 30 " of trunk. It flowered this year 1st time. I think its a female but the flower stalks kinda fizzled out before I could tell. I see one more that hasn't unfolded yet. I think its a taylor form. Bought near Raleigh nc. The trunk is massive. The butia on the left was planted 3 yrs ago as a strap leaf. It's getting pretty big as well

[Harry’s Palms]

12 hours ago, MIKE82397 said:

Here's my largest windmill on the right. It was in a pot in  nov. of 21'. 

2nd pic is aug of 22'

3rd pic apr. of 24

and 4th pic 5 minutes ago.

So the last 2 pics are one year apart

The 2nd year I bet that largest windmill put on 30 " of trunk. It flowered this year 1st time. I think its a female but the flower stalks kinda fizzled out before I could tell. I see one more that hasn't unfolded yet. I think its a taylor form. Bought near Raleigh nc. The trunk is massive. The butia on the left was planted 3 yrs ago as a strap leaf. It's getting pretty big as well

That’s some pretty substantial growth for one year. Harry

[MIKE82397]

I guess we cold hardy palm enthusiasts like to talk about winters in the ground. 3 winters for the big boy.  2 winters for the other 3. It basically outgrew its winter structure each year and last year was kinda to big to protect other than wrapping and lights and kept spear dry with a golf umbrella. Only fronds it’s ever lost was last year I had to chop off some of the lower ones just to get them out of the way for wrapping. Basically grows all year. 

[jwitt]

2011(-10f unprotected)

2012

Today(4f - 1/2025) 9' tall

[Fusca]

47 minutes ago, jwitt said:

2011(-10f unprotected)

2012

Today(4f - 1/2025) 9' tall

That's one helluva recovery!

[jwitt]

42 minutes ago, Fusca said:

That's one helluva recovery!

The -10f happened in 2/2011, so two seasons of growth after the big freeze. 

[Fusca]

35 minutes ago, jwitt said:

The -10f happened in 2/2011, so two seasons of growth after the big freeze. 

Yes, it's impressive indeed for survival at that small size!  I've seen them spear-pull at a slightly larger size around +20°F here but with almost no damage to existing fronds.

[jwitt]

1 hour ago, Fusca said:

Yes, it's impressive indeed for survival at that small size!  I've seen them spear-pull at a slightly larger size around +20°F here but with almost no damage to existing fronds.

It is a hardy one from a hardy species.  I do not protect and this weather station(Rio Rancho #2)is 23 houses away,  3 blocks or so. 

It saw this snow and two months later, 4f with virtually no damage! Got a lot of blooms this year tho!

[Harry’s Palms]

A real trooper , that one. I’ve seen large ones up north , covered in snow . On a return visit to the area in late Spring , they are beautiful! A full set of nice green fronds like nothing happened. They were in a shady spot , by a building so they were very showy. Harry

[NMPalmjunky]

I planted two 5 gallon windmills in 2014. The first pic is 4 years of growth. The second pic is 10 years in the ground. The largest one has about 7’ of trunk.

[Zone7Bpalmguy]

6 hours ago, NMPalmjunky said:

I planted two 5 gallon windmills in 2014. The first pic is 4 years of growth. The second pic is 10 years in the ground. The largest one has about 7’ of trunk.

It amazes me they can survive in such a dry climate. Those look great!

[NMPalmjunky]

2 hours ago, Zone7Bpalmguy said:

It amazes me they can survive in such a dry climate. Those look great!

@Zone7BpalmguyThank you for the kind words. Central New Mexico is not as dry as some people think. It’s been raining for the last three days. 

[Las Palmas Norte]

31 minutes ago, NMPalmjunky said:

Central New Mexico is not as dry as some people think. It’s been raining for the last three days. 

I suspect "not as dry" is dependant on perspective. Rio Rancho - 8" annual rainfall. My location - 46" annual rainfall.

[NMPalmjunky]

15 minutes ago, Las Palmas Norte said:

I suspect "not as dry" is dependant on perspective. Rio Rancho - 8" annual rainfall. My location - 46" annual rainfall.

I guess it’s all perspective. I moved here from Las Vegas, NV where we only got 4” of rain a year. 
 

Although the nearby 10,680 foot Sandia Mountains create a rain shadow effect that limits the precipitation for much of the Albuquerque metro, the evapotranspiration rate narrowly misses the Koppen desert climate classification. Most of the area averages closer to 9” annually. The Sandia Crest is about 15 miles from my house and averages 23” of rain annually. 

[Zone7Bpalmguy]

3 hours ago, NMPalmjunky said:

I guess it’s all perspective. I moved here from Las Vegas, NV where we only got 4” of rain a year. 
 

Although the nearby 10,680 foot Sandia Mountains create a rain shadow effect that limits the precipitation for much of the Albuquerque metro, the evapotranspiration rate narrowly misses the Koppen desert climate classification. Most of the area averages closer to 9” annually. The Sandia Crest is about 15 miles from my house and averages 23” of rain annually. 

Coming from an easterner here, I average 50+" per year.  I guess it is all perspective like Las Palmas Norte said, lol.

@NMPalmjunky What zone are you in? Sorry if I've asked you before.

[NMPalmjunky]

6 hours ago, Zone7Bpalmguy said:

Coming from an easterner here, I average 50+" per year.  I guess it is all perspective like Las Palmas Norte said, lol.

@NMPalmjunky What zone are you in? Sorry if I've asked you before.

@Zone7Bpalmguy The latest USDA map has most of the Albuquerque metro as 7b with some 8a. In reality, rural valley locations are probably 7a and developed areas with cold air drainage are 8a. The huge variants in elevations and UHI influence make mapping this area difficult and unreliable. 

[NMPalmjunky]

I always forget about this Trachky because it is tucked behind some larger palms. It was planted as a 3 gallon on a slope and didn’t grow much the first 5 years. I amended the soil and built a small reservoir for water retention last summer. It has grown more in the last year than the first 5 years combined. 

[Las Palmas Norte]

This is going back nearly 30 years. I planted this  15 gal. Windmill palm  in 1996, and this photo was taken 4 or 5 years later. I was impressed at how ridged the leaflets were, the trunk diameter and the crown density. It's about 25' tall these days but I rarely see it. It's on the mainland on property we owned back then.

[Allen]

Here is a look at some growth on mine .  These videos are a couple years old now 

NOW and Then A look back at my cold hardy palms and subtropical garden!
https://youtu.be/A9xcafJZ3D4

Palm Growth Videos
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpVDrk5W7jTdGEWlOwCjclIQ2lTXumTI5

My fastest growing palm (The Rocket)
https://youtu.be/un0O0tfCKos

 

 

 

[Las Palmas Norte]

@Allen what are you feeding that "Rocket" ? That kind of growth is spectacular.

[Allen]

28 minutes ago, Las Palmas Norte said:

@Allen what are you feeding that "Rocket" ? That kind of growth is spectacular.

Palmgain