Windmill Palms (Trachycarpus fortunei) have become very popular in the past few years are now widely used in landscape plantings. Here are some that are 20 years old or more in total age.
This Windmill Palm is located in Hickory NC, which is near the foothills of NC. The Hickory area was around 8 below zero in the 80's. The son of the person who planted this palm told me it was planted in 1946.
This old Windmill Palm is located in Williamsburg VA. I visited this palm back in the the early eighties and again in the summer of 2003. This palm has supposedly survived 8 below zero.
I have watched this old Windmill Palm slowly decline in my visits over the last 25 years. It was possibly planted in the late sixties. Located in Oriental, NC . This area floods in many of the hurricanes that hit this area.
Windmill Palm in Pullen Park, Raleigh NC, planted in the 80's. This is growing in rocky, red clay soil.
This old Windmill Palm was one of two planted in the mid 60's near New Bern, NC. They were severely damaged in the 70's as well as the 80's with temperatures as low as four below zero. One died a couple of years before this photo was taken. All the younger Windmills around it are offspring of the pair.
The soil the older one is growing in is very poorly drained clay soil, which may be contributing to it's decline and the death of the other one of the original pair..
I planted this Windmill at my former residence near New Bern, NC in 1985 when it was about 7 years. Completely defoliated in the 4 below zero freeze of December 25, 1989 but recovered and is still growing well in sandy soil.
I planted these two Windmills at this Jones County residence in 1990 when they were the same size and about 7 years old. When this photo was taken the tallest one was close to 25 feet. The differences in the growth rates of these two show that it is difficult to tell the age of Windmills just based on size. They are growing in amended sandy soil.
