It looks like sunburn.
Needles palms are native to the forest understory of the south, they enjoy the shade.
They also enjoy constant moist soil during the summer because they naturally grow near swamps.
I believe your needle palms need more water during the summer to prevent the brown tips.

I think Mongoose is right. I planted my new needle palms under other trees and on the west side of my house among fern, astilbe, hostas and other plants that like filtered sun light. It's also wetter over there in the summers because of the shade. A shredded wood mulch or long needle pine straw might work better that lava rock, because it would better mimic the forest floor where they grow.

Needle palms love full sun if grown in it their whole lives, but they naturally are understory plants so they dont have to adjust as much if they are grown in some more shade. I think yours will be fine where they are though. The new fronds will be more sun tolerant. Just dont make it dry out during the summer, and keep it from seeing too much cold this winter since it probably will be a bit sensitive until it gets more established.
-Alex

Needles excel in the south as an understory plant but
probably would benefit (in more northerly locals)from
a sunnier local...part shade year round for greenest appearance.

My guess is the tip burn is from fluoride,chlorine(etc)in the tap water.

Ok thanks everybody. Hopefully they'll acclimate and establish, and if they make it to next spring. I was planning on leaving 1 or 2 of them unprotected this winter and seeing what the result was. But I'm starting to think maybe I'll just wrap them with lights and only cover them on the coldest nights in the single digits or lower. There are 3 of them against that wall, along with a windmill palm I planted last fall which has really grown fast.

The roots shouldn't really freeze very deeply since they're against the foundation, and I have a basement. Plus, as I mentioned, they're sheltered by an overhang, so they won't get very much moisture in the crowns. The only thing they'll have to cope with is the temperatures.

Those are some nice looking stout little plants for sure.

I am not as optimistic about the roots not freezing....
you could always put some plastic and then leaves down
just to make sure-this way your rocks don't get all cruddy.

Just a thought....

Will be interesting to see what you decide-very nice to have
a brick wall to plant next too(-:)let us know how they fair.

And lets hope for a mild winter(:

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Thanks Jim. I got them from a local nursery this past spring. They had 5 of them to my surprise, and I picked up 3, as well as a sabal minor and some type of date palm, not sure what variety. They were $25 each, so a great opportunity up here as I didnt have to pay for shipping or receive bare-root.

I do remember last winter putting a dowel rod in the ground in the same area to build protection for the windmill against the same wall, and it went right in, no hammer needed, so the ground did not freeze. My day lillies are also planted against the foundation, and start coming up usually the first week of March while the rest of the yard is still frozen to some point.

Islandbreeze, needles are toough but not bullet proof. Iwould give good winter protection for 3 winters. That is recommended by David Francko ("palms won't grow here") author.It doesn't take all that much time.

They do seem to need a little help the first few years....

especially up north!(-:

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Well maybe it wouldn't hurt to take the advice given and maybe use some lights and burlap at the bare minimum...