Windmill Palm

The slender, graceful trunks are covered with brown-black fibers that appear as hair from a distance, and with aging, the fibers turn gray, and on large old trees the fibers fall off to reveal a slick beautiful trunk. The waxy leaves are bright green above and silver-green below; growing 2 feet long and 2 feet wide, smaller than most other palm trees. Windmill palm trees grow a flower stalk 2 feet long, with yellow, pleasantly aromatic flowers developing into long blue fruits. Windmill palms are tolerant of salt water spray and are very adaptable for planting and growing in most areas of the United States.

• The Windmill palm tree, Trachycarpus fortunei, also is called a Chusan palm and a Chinese Windmill palm tree, was imported from Japan, perhaps first, into the United States, but most botanists believe that this palm tree originated in China, where many seed and specimen trees were purchased to import into the US. The most cold hardy palm tree is the windmill palm tree, found growing as far north as Canada. The cold hardy quality is especially historically notable of the windmill palm trees, where the trees are lined around Lake Lucerne, Switzerland leading up to the city walls.

• The leaf shape of cold hardy palm trees is fan shaped- quite different from the feather shaped leaves of Queen Palms and Pindo Palm trees. The trunk of the Windmill Palm is insulated by a thick hairy layer of shredded bark. Container grown Windmill Palm trees are highly desirable specimens to place at the doors and entrances of commercial buildings or to shade customers at sidewalk cafes.

• Deer and many other wildlife animals can be found roaming through groves of Windmill Palm Trees. Windmill Palms also produce copious amounts of dates which feed wildlife but are inedible for people. Many wildlife animals seek the shelter of Windmill Palm Trees not only as a perching site but also for the seed for food.

• TyTy Nursery began selling windmill palm trees a decade ago as small trees and recently have successfully transported large windmill palm trees by semi-trucks for planting in such northern cold states as Illinois, New York, New Jersey, and many others. Very large Windmill Palm trees can be rapidly shipped (balled and burlap) by freight to be planted in your garden or patio. A fifteen gallon potted Windmill Palm tree is easy to handle, endures stresses of shipment and is easy to plant in your garden. Windmill palm trees have a great future in the United States as an outstanding tree with a tropical exotic appearance, and a palm tree that survives severe cold temperatures and snows of the north.