The Windmill palm, Trachycarpus fortunei, tree has been extrensively planted and grown during the last five years in most Northern States and in Canada, much to the incredulous surprise of environmentalists and climatologists. Tropical palm trees are not generally believed to have cold hardy characteristics sufficient to survive in non-tropical locations where temperatures often plunge to depths below zero. The windmill palm, Trachycarpus fortunei, can survive cold weather because of two characteristics: slow growth and a brown-black burlap-like hair that insulates the trunk from winter ravages.

The windmill palm tree, Trachycarpus fortunei, has been reported to grow 20 feet tall in the United States, but the windmill palm is not a native tree here and has only a short history of growing in the United States, after it was imported into Florida from Europe. Many windmill palm trees in Europe are growing as tall as 40 feet. In optimum conditions, the windmill palm tree can grow one foot per year, and the trunk is tall and slender—one foot maximum in diameter—and the base is smaller in diameter than the top, as is the case with many other palm tree species. The width of the windmill palm tree canopy is about 15 feet and the leaves are fan shaped and can grow 3 feet long.