pulling the center - if it pulls out, it's finished, if it doesn't, there is still a chance, but if it's all brown, a small chance.
the biggest reason for palm transplant failure is air in the planting hole. check my comments on this other recent thread.
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/palms/msg0416045816067.html?12

washies are very tough palms & if you had no spear pull i would say their hanging in there! like you said their probably just tring to recuperate from your harsh winter, you should start seeing some growth pretty soon with those temps. dont lose hope their strong as an ox where i live & they use to be rated a zone 9a! possibly almost a zone 8a palm now but in a great location. in 2007 temps. got down to 13*F & all the leaves on all the washies around my area & near by cities were fried but they all came back stronger than ever! goodluck

I wish I could give you reassurance, but being realistic, they might have root rot. If they have root rot, they will not grow, and the spear might not pull out right away either. I had a windmill that got root rot. The foliage stayed green and the spear didn't pull until June, but it did not grow at all. And Washies are notorious for root rot if the roots are kept cold and too wet.

Thanks for all the info. Islandbreeze, I have two windmill palms in the same bed as two of the washys and they have started pushing out new fronds. Are the windmills more tolerant to root rot or are they just as susceptible?

Windmills are more tolerant. They are from mountainous areas that get cold and wet in the winter. Washies are from the desert, which may get cold in the winter, but stays dry.

One thing I did over the winter was put additional mulch around the trees. I never removed it after it warmed up. I pulled a lot of it away this afternoon and the ground was damp underneath but not soaking. I pulled enough soil away to expose some of the roots and from what I could tell they did not look rotted. But I am not exactly sure how rotted roots look. Do you think pulling the mulch away and letting the ground dry out will help? Should I spray some copper fungicide or peroxide down around the center spears? I did end up with one fatality tonight as I pulled a spear and it came out. That leaves me with 2 to try and save.

I would just pull back the mulch to dry the ground up and warm it up. I don't think there is a cure for root rot, but its worth a try. I wouldnt dig any of the soil away to expose roots though. Healthy roots generally look white in color, rotted roots are brown and shriveled up. The one with spear pull may still come back. And yes, spray the copper fungicide down into the crown cavity. I use peroxide because copper fungicide is a known cancer causer, but either will work.

i to have took the proper precautions to winterize my washy,its brown to the core,i tugged on one spear and came right out, furious at father winter i glance at my chainsaw and had ideas in my head..lol I have one more spear left and put fugicide all down the the top.With my fingers cross i hope it will make it too...so i sympathize with your washy and hope it makes it so it will give me some hope on my washy also

IB - thanks for all your info. I guess I will use the peroxide... don't want dead palms and cancer! lol I pulled the mulch back enough just to check the roots and they were white and none appeared shriveled. So I hope that is a good sign. I pushed enough soil back on them to cover the roots but left the mulch off so the dirt can dry out.

NC - I know how you feel about the spear pull. As soon as I pulled three fronds out of mine and saw no trace of green I immediately got the shovel and dug it up! It's on the street now waiting for the trash truck to pick it up. Good luck with yours, hope it pulls through.

Your palm sounds fine. Don't sprinkle anything on it.

I poured a little miracle grow around them this evening. Will that hurt anything?