Nice one! Did you ask how they protected it? It looks pretty exposed. It will be interesting to see how it looks in the spring.

Thanks.

I see 3 gallon Butias around here for $20-25 pretty often, $75 would probably buy at least a 7 gallon size, maybe bigger depending on the time of year.

I bought a bundle of Butia seedlings off of ebay for $10, I potted them up and now I have 27 Butia palms. I plan to grow these up to 3 gallon size and then try to resell some of them.

Thanks Staten Island, that was and is a real treat to palm lovers. It lived thru the winter in such an open area. That is something. All your other pics are good too.

Windy and subtropical weather. I work on the sixth floor in a large area hospital in Central Brooklyn the wind is picking up AGAIN!!! My desk is by the window. Its got to be gusting to 50+ mph currently (10:54 am)

They wrapped it in christmas lights with big bulbs, wrapped it in a shlt load of plastic wrap (so much that there is a 6 inch layer) They also mulched it. they kept the lights on anytime it was below 20 degrees.

It looks like it worked really well.

Good to know what works:-)

Does that big Yucca Rostrata in the first pic get covered up in the winter? If not, I'm amazed that it hasn't rotted. I tried one a couple years ago and it got bud rot. The top rotted out and it died.

I cant speak for that particular yucca, but I assume it recieves no protection becuause there are alot of yucca rostratas in the area, most are over 6 years old. They are very nice, but very slow growers compared to the curve leaf yucca though.

Alot of them are planted in very well draining soil, but most of the natural soil is clay and very poor drainage.

Good luck!

I heard if you plant them is sand/gravel/soil mixture that drains well; that rotting is less of an issue.

no the big yucca is unprotected and planted in clay soil. it is on a hill which recieves better drainage.

Here's my Yucca recurvifolia. About 11 years old now. No protection.

Yucca recurvifolia

Nice yuccas. I was commenting on sandy soil requirement for the first photo on this thead (what is that plant?) - the AZ looking plant needs well drained soil.

The Yuccas here are very hardy and really demand sun more than anything else from a zone 7.

In SI it's november still no hard frosts and palms are uncovered. Today we had a high of 60

Pretty good. 2 out of 4 of my tropical hibsicus are still outside and one of them is blooming. I covered my pineapple on one cold night, and its still outside growing too! All the bananas leaves were cut off, but a new ones continue to slowly open. I still have a few others outside too.

I put all the lights on my palms already, so they are ready to do their job whenever the cold comes.

Unfortunately I wouldnt get too used to it this nice weather, the pattern is suppost to be literally the opposite of november. So instead of being mild and relatively dry (other than Ida) we will probably be rather cold, and very wet (maybe some snow comming up in the next few weeks too) which is very early for coastal areas even this far north.

I personally dont think we deserve a cold winter. We had a very slow start to the summer (I dont think a single day in june made it to an average temperature and there were literally only 2 days where clouds didnt completely cover the sky). All my plants other than the cannas were on standstill until july.

I hope the forecast is wrong, because this is the first year Im overwintering palms outdoors and even though im prepared to lose some of them, they arent going without a fight :)

Hopefully the predictions arent correct, but no matter what it looks to me liek there will be a lot of coastal storms in the next few weeks.

Good luck!

I agree, I am hoping for a mild NY winter - but the curernt pattern is for costal storms and in Jan/Feb that means cold air to follow.

i covered my pindoes with light and mulched all palms I turn on the light on at night but im not covering anything untill at least 25 degrees

Hi SI,

That's good you are prepared ahead of time. They really do not need the lights while its above freezing.

Some palm folks think this is the time to start to keep them dry so the roots aren't too wet when the freeze eventually hits. I do this by partially covering my palm now. Another consideration is that if the temps drop into the 20s with 50 mph icy winds, they can be harmed. Its not ONLY temps, but high cold winds and moisture that kills palms.

I plan on covering the pallms with wilt proof. my neighbor overwintered a trachy last year and aonthe one this year with christmas lights and wiltproof

What is wiltproof?

Wilt Pruf is this new spray that you put on plants around this time of the year and it will increase a plants cold tolerance by 2-9F. It claims that it would be like living 200 miles south, which would be somewhere near southeastern virginia or the delmarva penninsula for you.

i havent seen them being sold locally yet, but you can get them online (I think liquid fence sells it)

Did you ever use wiltproof TZ? It sounds good and I would think you have to spray the whole plant both sides of the leaves. The truck too?

My guess is that it would not completely protect from water freezing in the palm's sensitive bud and killing the palm if we have rains followed by sharp wind and cold in the low 20s.

Has anyone liked using it - please comment?

Whoops!
Sorry I just noticed I got WiltProof confused with FreezePruf, But they are very similar.

WiltProof keeps moisture in the plant and therefore will add some cold tolerance to the plant but it isnt advertized to keep the temperature down. Its been out for a while, and is probably available at home depot (but you might have to get some online).

FreezePruf is a new product. this product works for cold. If you want your tomatoes to live past a frost, put this on 12 hours before a frost (but I dont think I would put it on a plant with food on it). This one claims to make your plants think you live 200 miles south.

With both of them you need to apply it to the top and bottom of the leaves very well, but putting it on the trunk will do nothing for the plant.

Im thinking of getting some FreezePruf, but not until after I see how well it works (this is the first winter it has been publicly available). I might get some wiltproof too to exeriment on, but for this winter I will probably be protecting my palms "the old fashioned way". Lol.

Sorry for the confusion, hope this cleared it up!

Yes that was good cold hardy palm info. Thanks.

I may try it in the future as well.

Here's a link to Freeze-Pruf
Very different product from Wilt-pruf,which is a anti-transpirant.

Here is a link that might be useful: Freeze-Pruf

Trying to find others on staten island, who have outdoor palm trees, please contact me

There are some other ones on staten island that ive noticed but didnt take pictures yet. This thread is from last year. Btw the small pindo palms died of spear pull and i replaced them with windmills

That's a bummer but you can still try a pindo plam in the Spring.

Just cover her Dec 1 - April 1 and turn on lights for her when it drops below 25* and you have a nice pindo in a few seasons. Jim hardy had them survive his zone 5 winter.

Hey to you guys on Staten Island, I have several windmill palms growing in my yard....I live in Great Kills...would love to be in contact with anyone from staten island or brooklyn about growing palms or tropical plants in the outer boros

thanks and i look forward to be hearing from everyone

mike

Yeah i live in eltingville and thats where all these pics are from.

hi staten island palm...that is great, an in great kills , one town over, have a few windmills in the yard, that i have had for awhile and protect in the winter, with a homemade greenhouse....do you know how i can post pics of them on here.

i saw the pindo palm at schweigers, looks pretty good since it is not protected .

thanks for your help

mike

to post pictures make a photobucket account and upload your pictures then post the html code

The palm at shweigers is a replacment for one that died last year i have some pictures of it if u loook up the old threads

Is the palm at schweigers the pindo palm in the nursery pic in the earlier pics on this thread? If it is then its too bad that it didnt make it :(

Photobucket is definitely the easiest way to post pics on here and an account is free and easy to make. Save the pics on your computer and then post them onto your photobucket account. After that you can click on the pics you have on your photobucket and see 4 links. Click on the html one and paste that link onto your message here. Hope to see some pics!!!
Good luck!
-Alex

yeah it is the same palm it survived but had speerpull and slowly died around march. The replaced it with a smaller one and i dont think they are protecting it.

Thanks SI Palm 7A.....it did not look protected at all ....mine have survived winters, but i protect mine with a homemade greenhouse, which gives them light and warmth and the ice and snow stay out

will try the website you said

thanks
Mike

Thanks Dennis for the status on that palm! I had a feeling it wasnt going to make it without protection, but it would have been really cool if it did! Hopefully this new palm will make it, but I definitely doubt it (but it would have no problem if it got a little protection).
Good luck!
-Alex

Hello Fellow palmers.
Just recently visited S. cali and feel in love with the palms, felt the need to plant one. Just recently aquried a green thumb.
I just planted a 5ft windmill palm in my front yard in the bronx(City Island). not sure if there are any around here!! my niebors are all laughing at me(think im crazy)
Plan on building a plexiglass greenhouse around it for Dec, Jan & feb. maybe keep it till march. would love to have some good advice, so i can prove them all wrong. Thanks for any help

I have several windmill palms and I simply cover them with a plastic tub and put christmas lights in the container and turn them on when Tthe temp goes below 15. The large windmill in the top of this post that is planted against a brick wall (not my house) is not protected during the winter but the brick wall helps

Welcome tot he fourm! You can definitely prove them wrong and then make them want the look of the tropics too! I protect 2 of my trachy here with christmas lights a frost cloth and a garbage bin. One of my trachys goes unprotected. Last year it had some damage, but this year it was mild enough for the trachy to survive unprotected with no damage. They are pretty hardy and the more established they get in a spot, the hardier they are!

I only protect my trachys when temperatures go below 20F and even that is considered a lot of protection to some people. As it gets older I protect it less and less and even the protected trachys see temperatures in the teens as much as possible. They are in a very warm part of the yard though so I doubt they really need any protection at all anymore.

And if you really like the tropical look you can plant other things too like cannas, elephant ears, gingers, castor beans, etc. The Cannas, Elephant ears, and ginger can all be started by bulbs from nurseries online (or locally) and they will get large in one summer. The Castors can easily be started from seed (still not too late to start them now, but they wont get as massive as they would have if you planted in April). Warning about Castor beans though, they are EXTREMELY toxic if eaten!

Good luck! It can definitely be done! Here are a few pics of my yard from last year with the ID's of the plants in the pics to maybe give you some ideas!
Sky glory vine

Mediterranean fan palm (now in bloom)

From left to right.... Brugmansia, Musa Saba Banana, spiral ginger (the plant with the white flower)

White Mandevilla

Sabal Minor palm

Ice Cream banana, philodendron, majesty palm, and some cannas in the background

Livistona palm (not that cold hardy, but I protect it every winter with a garbage bin, frost cloth, and christmas lights and it looks like this by fall!)

Passion vine (this is hardy and will survive the winter)

Plumeria in bloom (tropical and need good care, but make great blooms!)

This pic shows the coloration and height some cannas can reach. The fence is 6 feet tall and the plant reached a maximum height of 9 feet last summer. They survived the winter in the ground last year but many dig the bulbs up.

Hope this helps a little!
-Alex

Hi Bronx Boy, welcome aboard. If you need any help with winter survival for your palms, send me an email, would be glad to help out...will send some pics, instructions. Mine have survived for over 4 years already.

Californiamike64@aol.com

take care and look forward to be hearing from you

Mike

Mon June 4th 2012. Thanks for all the replies. Ok, Its been a rainy week here in NYC. windmill looking a little shabby!! Outer mature fronds getting brown! However 3 new fronds are comming in. The new fronds look nice and green. But so slow growing! This is some history of what i did: Im pretty sure im making a lot of mistakes. The plant was shipped from Georgia a couple of weeks ago. Hole was pre dug. Dug large hole, put native soil that i dug in a pail mixed with a bag of top soil, and a little sand and put some bone meal(not to much). mix the soils together. Planted the tree. using the new mixed soil. Packed it down with foot so the tree did not tip. The soil line was visable above the roots so thats the height i planted it. Watered it well. A week later recieved The Mycorridal fungi that i ordered. poked some holes in the soil and puts some in the holes. I also sprayed some liquid copper on all the fronds. About a week later i noticed some browning on the tips and clipped them (proberly a mistake) Than complete browning, so i prunned 2 fronds. I think that was a mistake also!! Am i killing this palm? Should i expect some re-planter shock? Thanks for the replies. How do i post pictures on this link? would love to show pics

OK i figured out how to post pictures!! now i need to figure out how not to kill my windmill palm
here is my windmill palm planted in may

was curious? is yucca rostrota dangeous to grow in yard with little kids running around? love that tree!!

Yucca shouldn't be dangerous if it taller than the kids but it does have extremely sharp pointed leaves. Also im curious why did you spray copper on the leaves. Other than that just make sure you protect you tree the first couple of winters

StatenIslandpalm & Tropicalzone
Thanks for your replies! your yards looks great. Thanks for the pictures.
I sprayed the palm with copper because i dont know what the hell im doing!!! LOLO
The guy that i bought the palm from told me to do so!
This new hobbie is a tough one!!
I guess i should just leave the dam tree alone.
The only new thing i did was put a little mulch on the ground, because it looks nice. Im learning everything the hard way. Heres what the tree looks like today.

Thanks Bronxboy! I would cut off all the brown fronds and also cut off all the tips that are brown that way you can see if the palm is still getting browner or if it has stopped. Sometimes palms are hard to transplant, I had some problems with my trachy the first year and the fronds browned and looked bad. It grew out of it though after it's first winter and is growing faster and faster every year now.

You trachy looks like it was grown in a lot of shade (I know this because the petioles are very long, those are the things that attach the fan part of the fronds to the trunk). It was grown in shade so your plant looked bigger, but if it is in sun now then the new fronds will be shorter (and healthier too!) so just a heads up on that so dont be alarmed if it looks like your palm is getting shorter as it grows, dont worry, it's growing how it should!

Good luck! Keep us updated!
-Alex

Thanks for the advice Tropical.
Very helpfull, and reasurring.
My windmill palm is mostly in full sun all day.
Theres a big maple tree on the street that
shades it a couple of hours a day.
Is the full sun exposoure why the new fronds are growing so slow? And yes, one frond looks like
its opening already and is much shorter than the older ones. Also, some one told me that i
should not prune the dead fronds intil
the new ones come out. Not really sure what to do?
My Windmill palm has gotten a lot of attention in my nieborhood. Mostly because i live in the Bronx,
and im almost positive theres not many people growing palms here. Theres not much of anything growing here!!!
Cant wait for next spring!!
If my windmill survives the winter i want to try a Pindo palm. Im pretty handy so i plan i building a plexiglass green house to fit around it for the winter.
Going to use christmas lights for heat when it drops below 20. Now all i have to buy is a parrot and train it to sit in the tree all day.
This is the garden i just recently planted. all native plants, but they got me started with my green thumb. Hopefully as i learn more can replace some of the shrubs with bannana and more tropical stuff.

Hi BronX Boy, nice palm...sent you a message the other day willing to help with your winter survival for your palm, if you have questions please email me, californiamike64@aol.com. They look nice.

By the way, there are more palms on staten island by some of the houses near Carmens restaurant. also, big yucca rostratas on Genesee near Wainwright and on Barlow off Greaves.

You have a really nice yard, I could definitely picture tropical plants filling in! I have a pindo and as long as you keep them protected when temperatures dropped below 20F, you should be good! Last winter was so mild that one of my pindos survived the winter with no protection at all and just a bit of damage and we got to 13F! That really proves that its not always the lowest temperature that matters, but the duration of cold throughout the winter.

Good luck! And as far as pruning the brown fronds on the trachy, you can cut them off because the brown fronds do not do anything for the plant since they no longer collect the sun's rays, but some people like to keep them on for a while anyways. Just make sure to never cut off green fronds unless its an established palm and even then its better off to leave them on since the more green leaves, the more energy the palm is getting.
-Alex

Thanks California mike, I apprecaite the help. and definitly will hit you up on some advice with the winter protection soon. If im ever in Staten Island, will definilty check out those palms and yuccas. Staten Island has always been a big mystery to me. Heard its really beautiful. Ive Only been there once However. And that was by accident, went to far on the belt parkway and was forced to go over the bridge.

Hi Bronx boy: yes, have a few palms in my yard, ones over 6 feet now and very wide, and the other over 4 feet...they have grown a lot the past few years and just keep on growing and i do nothing to them. Also have a few in pots. ever around stop by. I always have a problem posting pics on here, so when you email me, will send you some pics....good luck with your palm. If you still are looking, there are a few places in NJ that sell them. take care mike