If you want it to be damage free, you can place a trash can over it with one gallon water containers to hold the temperature over night. It will work well for the nights in the teens as long as you replace the water every day.

Sounds like you left your parents behind with a lot of high maintenance. Wherever you are going, maybe bring them back a treat for all the special needs your palm needs. =P

Seriously though, that's awesome to see palms growing way up in Michigan-looks great!!

we probably won't even start the protection until the end of Dec here (almost same zone as you). These are tough palms and can take pretty low temps. If that palm has been in the ground for the spring and summer, it should be pretty well adapted by now and I doubt that any Dec. temps are going to be a problem.

I'll bet that, except for rain protection (wet in the crown, not good) you should be able to wait until you get back.

just my thoughts on that

First time poster here. I just received 2 Windmills yesterday.Both are around 18 inches tall with beautiful dark green leaves. Being in Iowa i potted these plants and will protect them this winter and possibly bring them in as needed.The place i bought them from has been very helpful and guarantees them for a year even to -15F! Last year we had a cold spell where nights got briefly down to -17 and a couple days struggled to get above 5F.These are experimental palms and i will provide them extensive protection if needed over the winter. I got excited about these palms because as all of you know we here in the midwest haven't had much of a winter (sub-zero temps) for 5-7 years and actually many days from late Dec till Feb are in the 35-55 range.Any thoughts on how i should protect them this winter while they are still potted? i was thinking of covering them up when temps got into the mid teen's at night and bringing them in if we are expecting sub freezing temps (daytime) for a week or more. Any suggestions on how long/how cold they can get before they need a above freezing thaw? I plan on keeping record of temps,winds and general weather conditions this fall/winter and like i said this is an experiment but from what i have read there is a good chance they may survive for some time....Palm's in Iowa?? HMMM

The temperature guarantee i stated(-15F) is for mature established Windmill's

you are CRAZY lakers1982. palms don't grow in Iowa.

Ok, enough of that. Don't leave your potted palms outside in freezing temps very long because the roots can and will be damaged if the pots freeze solid, which could kill your palms. It would be better to bring them inside for the winter, put them in a basement, or garage and provide a grow light or two for light. then if you want - you can plant them in the ground next springtime (2008) and worry about protecting them next winter.

Sounds like a plan. At what temp would you bring them in? Like i said this is all just an experiment.

I brought a 5 gallon fortunei in when the nights were in the upper teens. This didnt happen til after christmas because it was such a warm beginning to winter. The important thing is to not let the pots freeze, which can happen in the 20s too.

How old do you suggest the tree's be before i try to see if they will survive in my yard(near house,south facing)with winter temps constantly below freezing.
Thanks in advance

The best answer I have is put them outside when they become a pain to keep inside. In our climates I wouldnt put anything less than a 5 gallon size in the ground. I planted this 15 gallon in April and will still give it heavy protection..forever. I think the -15F estimate is sorta exaggerated. The subzero cold here and the weeks where we don't even hit 20 here are the reason that I will need to protect anything in the ground no matter what age. 10 months out of the year I will have an interesting palm on display in my garden. I got the large one because it took away 6 years of waiting for a foot tall plant to become that. I think it was worth it.

Frmmi-Where are you located? Here in Iowa other than last winter,we have been blessed with hardly anything below zero.Many times the grass is still pretty green for christmas and our cold spells tend to be short lived with a major warm up a few days later.Do you have a pic of your 15 gallon palm you planted?

Duh! its at the top.Maybe we can correspond our low temps and how our palms are handling it over the winter..I am also looking at getting a Needle palm as well as a Yucca Rostrata. Do you know anybody in our cold winter climates with these 2? I have heard they can take the cold even better than the Windmill's

I heard good things about those 2, but I think they both grow insanely slow. I looked into some sabal lousiana, sabal mccurtain, and sabal birmingham, but I think the prolonged 20s and 30s might kill them. They can handle cold blasts but not the long shutdown.

Did you buy a special variety of fortunei, where the nursery said -15F?

If I was gonna stick around in Michigan, I'd get some seeds together that are claimed to be extra hardy, like the taylor form. I'll be in Miami or San Jose in a couple years and this is my parents' house...I can share my experiences this winter in this thread, I like taking pics of what I'm growing.

http://stores.ebay.com/Messenbrinks-Nursery I like what this seller has, the possible hybrid could be extra hardy.

In the spring I will be looking for a Needle that is a few years old as well as a Yucca Rostrata that is 12-15 years old,the look of one of those is completely worth it to me. The Fortunei I received is from a nursery that has been acclimating them to the cold over time and apparently had success this last winter in the mid-west with our insane cold spell with only mild protection. The fronds on these 2 I received are beautiful deep green and seem to be/feel tougher than one's I have seen when in Atlanta. The trunk's while only a year old are already fattening nicely and have developed quite a thick covering of hair.
I think in the spring i will plant one of them on the southwest side of the house a few feet out from the foundation and keep the other potted.

In the spring I will be looking for a Needle that is a few years old as well as a Yucca Rostrata that is 12-15 years old,the look of one of those is completely worth it to me. The Fortunei I received is from a nursery that has been acclimating them to the cold over time and apparently had success this last winter in the mid-west with our insane cold spell with only mild protection. The fronds on these 2 I received are beautiful deep green and seem to be/feel tougher than one's I have seen when in Atlanta. The trunk's while only a year old are already fattening nicely and have developed quite a thick covering of hair.
I think in the spring i will plant one of them on the southwest side of the house a few feet out from the foundation and keep the other potted.