Hardy Palms: The Windmill Palm: Trachycarpus fortunei

Continuing on with our series on cold hardy palms is discussion of a large group of hardy windmill palm; Trachycarpus fortunei.

T. fortunei ‘Bulgaria’

Palm grower Kiril Donov has collected this windmill palm seed from 35-year-old trees growing in Plavdiv, Bulgaria…that’s right, the one near Romania. According to Donov, these trees regularly see very cold temperatures… After growing them to a larger size and seeing the stiffness of the fronds and their reduced size, we are fairly confident these plants represent hybrids between typical T. fortunei and T. fortunei ‘Wagnerianus’. (Hardiness Zone 7b-10)

T. fortunei ‘Charlotte’

Always on the lookout for hardy palm selections, I sighted two magnificent 30′ specimens of very hardy windmill palms in the Myers Park region of Charlotte NC (3 hours west of Raleigh) in the 1980s. We were able to acquire seed and gave them the cultivar name T. fortunei ‘Charlotte’. (Hardiness Zone 7b-10)

T. fortunei ‘Greensboro’

The seed for this windmill palm came from a 20′ specimen plant that was growing at a church in Greensboro, NC… 2 hours northwest of Raleigh and generally a bit colder. This may be the coldest site from which we have obtained seed of this wonderful trunked palm. Unfortunately, several years later the plant was destroyed when the church expanded, so it no longer exists. (Hardiness Zone 7b-10)

T. fortunei ‘Hayes Stiffie’

Plantsman and palm guru Hayes Jackson shared seed of this fast-growing Trachycarpus he refers to as his “stiff leaf form.” Hayes thinks it might be a T. fortunei ‘Wagnerianus’ x typical T. fortunei cross, but those who know for sure aren’t talking. The 20′ tall trunk has leaves whose tips don’t become limp, as is the case with typical T. fortunei. Hayes has grown this for many years in his Anniston, Alabama, garden with no damage. Having seen it in person in 2006, I can attest that it is both unique and impressive…the palm, that is. (Hardiness Zone 7b-10)

T. fortunei ‘Nanital’

Everything we know about T. takil is wrong as palm experts discovered in 2009 that instead of growing the real species, we all had a form of T. fortunei from Nanital, India (just northwest of Nepal). T. fortunei ‘Nanital’ has more finely divided leaves than most typical T. fortunei, along with a trunk that has a slight lean…a la the Tower of Pisa. When it matures, it will develop a completely bald trunk…bring out the Rogaine! (Hardiness Zone 7b-10)

T. fortunei ‘Norfolk’

Our seed of this came from a row of large 20-30′ tall specimens at the Norfolk Zoo in Virginia. (Hardiness Zone 7b-10)

T. fortunei Tennessee Form

Thanks to palm collector Will Taylor of Athens, Tennessee, for sharing seed of a T. fortunei that has been growing and fruiting for years at his home in Zone 7a, between Knoxville and Chattanooga, Tennessee. Will originally purchased these from a local nursery in 1996, and they have endured -2 degrees F, unprotected in the ground. (Hardiness Zone 7b-10)

T. fortunei Taylor Form

Originally, two windmill palms with distinctive leaf shapes were purchased from Florida and planted at Taylor’s Nursery in Raleigh nearly a half-century ago. One tree survived and endured our record -9 degrees F temperature in the ’80s. Fruiting offspring from this tree are planted around Raleigh, including the local Jaycee Park palm garden. (Hardiness Zone 7b-10)

T. fortunei ‘Wagnerianus’ (Syn: T. wagnerianus)

This palm is one of the true mysteries of the palm world, as it has never been recorded from the wild and is probably nothing more than a short-frond, very winter hardy form of T. fortunei, hence our name change. In cultivation, palmophiles recognize it as one of the hardiest of the trachycarpus group. In stature, it makes a 20′ tall trunk exactly like typical T. fortunei except the stiff round leaves are stunningly beautiful and much shorter (18″ diameter compared to 33″ diameter for typical T. fortunei). (Hardiness Zone 7b-10)

The windmill palm is certainly one of the most popular cold hardy palms in the U.S. but you can read about many more in the other aritcles in this series.