Hey Josue, I have a windmill palm, but, I've heard of the princeps. I am in an area where these or any palm would'nt be in my area nursery. I will be overwintering my Trachycarpus fortunie for the first time this coming winter.

I heard of the Trachy. Princeps, on a video from someone in the UK, as they were describing their tropicalesque garden on a video. I'm not so sure they look any different, or enough for me to go out of my way to get a Trachy. Princeps. VS a Trachy Fortunie. I can only keep either 1 alive until it's too tall for me to cover in winter. I just wonder why is the Princeps any better? What do you see or know that makes it better?

Hi Poaky, I am not a fan of trachycarpus fortunei at all. They are very common here. I will say that really old, tall fortuneis that have had their trunks cleaned do look rather attractive, but for the most part they are pretty non-descript plants. The leaves are thin and get tattered easily in the wind.

T. princeps leaves are thick and waxy. The leaves are larger too, each segment being at least twice as wide as fortunei. The biggest distinction is the powdery white color on the underside of the fronds. I'm not sure that princeps is as hardy as fortunei, though, so you might consider looking into that.

Yeah, I'll be using protection for them anyway, but, hopefully they are close in hardiness. Thanks Josue

Okay Josue, I wondered if you could give me some info about the Tr. Princeps, if you can. What kinda soil do they like, or if they are fine in your soil, what is your soil like. Do you have a alkaline soil rich in limestone? Is your soil sandy or clay or is it acidic? I will be building a raised bed for the palm i do eventually get. My Windmill is pretty much a goner, so i'll need to replace it. I still have my Needle palm, pretty much a non picky palm, it's fine with any soil I'm seeing. I may get a Pindo palm or something else, but, the princeps looks good too. Have you maybe just used palm fertilizer? I got the Windmill palm because of the hardiness, but, I'll be protecting anyway, so I may just get something less picky or prone to ugly windripped leaves, ya know?

You know,if you really wanted to play with that? Try growing one in full shade. It WILL develop very long petioles and bigger fronds.

I wish I had saved a photo on the net I just saw of a home in Italy that had a sunroon. Towards the back wall were two regular Trachies in large pots. With 5' of trunk or so..and the very long stretched petioles of the two palms made a great pattern against the walls.

I had something like that with mine for years in my backyard..but its now grown above the roof darn it. Looks like any other Windmill now-lol.

Poaky, sorry for the late response. I have no experience with trachycarpus princeps other than thinking its cultural requirements are similar to other trachycarpus, which are no-fuss, easy plants where I live. From what I have read, princeps is not the hardiest of the genus, so perhaps it would require a bit more care in a marginal climate like yours. Maybe someone else can chime in with hardiness information?

Hi guys, well, I got another Trach. Fortunei off Ebay. They only had seeds for Princeps and I wanted the cheapest price. I payed $19.60 shipping included, and it will be a foot tall, so the same size as the previous one I had. I pulled on the middle spear and it was rotten at the bottom end, so I likely watered it too much. I will need to plant it in the ground, and water only when it is really dry. I hope being in the ground is better for it. I'll be making a shelter for winter and adding heat throwing lights in it and around the tree. There's people on Youtube that have done so every year for at least 3 years, and they are semi-close to me, well, within 50 miles I think, and they are more north, but say they are in 6b, and I'm 6a. Anyways, thanks for taking the time to answer. I wish I had a sunroom, we were going to get one, but, after my dad died the income isn't to where we can, so, I'll just have to garden outdoors. Later guys.

Oh, as far as growing in full shade, I don't have lottsa shade near a plug/near the house, and I'll need to plug in my winter protection for it.