Where Can I find 5-8ft tall Trachycarpus Fortunei in Texas

[Collectorpalms]

Never thought I’d ask this question, but I think I have a place for them that the soil might work. I could work with 3-4 feet of trunk or more.
I could also go with 15-30 gallon container Sabals.

otherwise I’ll have to go with something like evergreen oak leaf hollys. 

Houston Garden Center have them?

Edited April 1, 2021 by Collectorpalms

[smatofu]

12 minutes ago, Collectorpalms said:

Never thought I’d ask this question, but I think I have a place for them that the soil might work. I could work with 3-4 feet of trunk or more. I could also go with 15-30 gallon Sabals.

Houston Garden Center have them?

I don't know specifically Houston, but you can buy them at HomeDepot or Lowes in Texas. 

[3-4 feet] I would buy even smaller ones. The younger the palm, the easier it can acclimatize to a new place.  If they are healthy and they like the place, they will grow 3 ft per year.

Of course, look for a healthy plant which for me is long frond stems, large fronds, and slim trunk... 

 

 

Edited April 1, 2021 by smatofu

[CiprianS]

Trachycarpus Fortunei are the Windmill Palms, right? Do they grow 3 feet per year? I thought they are small growing ones. Now I am confused.

[Collectorpalms]

3 minutes ago, smatofu said:

I don't know specifically Houston, but you can buy them at HomeDepot or Lowes in Texas. 

[3-4 feet] I would buy even smaller ones. The younger the palm, the easier it can acclimatize to a new place.  If they are healthy and they like the place, they will grow 3 ft per year.

Of course, look for a healthy plant which for me is long frond stems, large fronds, and slim trunk... 

 

 

I have been checking, No one has any cold hardy palms at Home Depot Lowe’s or Walmart. They never get the big size I like anyhow, and charge 40 for a 5 gallon 

[smatofu]

Just now, Collectorpalms said:

I have been checking, No one has any cold hardy palms at Home Depot Lowe’s or Walmart. They never get the big size I like anyhow, and charge 40 for a 5 gallon 

They come and go in waves. 

[They never get the big size I like anyhow] Smaller palms are much easier to acclimatize. Size difference: if they healthy and like the place, they will make up for the size difference in a few months. 

[Collectorpalms]

1 minute ago, CiprianS said:

Trachycarpus Fortunei are the Windmill Palms, right? Do they grow 3 feet per year? I thought they are small growing ones. Now I am confused.

Windmills. They are very slow here For my yard. 6 inches a year. The stall out in the summer which can last till October. They do not grow fast like other places. I can only give them rainwater. No city water.

[Collectorpalms]

3 minutes ago, smatofu said:

They come and go in waves. 

[They never get the big size I like anyhow] Smaller palms are much easier to acclimatize. Size difference: if they healthy and like the place, they will make up for the size difference in a few months. 

No the size I buy them at is the size they will be for years. So they need to be big. Sabals will overtake them in no time. I am only buying them due to the freeze killing my other palms. Butia hybrids and Livistonia 

Edited April 1, 2021 by Collectorpalms

[smatofu]

DFW may have a better climate for windmills. Mine are growing 3 ft a year.  

My "secret" is a big hole of HD/Lowes cow manure mixed with clay and sand.

I rarely water my palms. I think good soil can store enough water from rain to keep them hydrated.

 

Edited April 1, 2021 by smatofu

[UK_Palms]

My biggest Fortunei grew about 3-4 foot last year, but that's for bigger specimens that already have a fair bit of trunk. You're not going to have a small 30cm Trachy put on 3 foot inside 12 months. They will be painstakingly slow at a young age and it's only when they get bigger that the growth rate increases dramatically.

This varies enormously between specimens though. My other biggish Fortunei only put on half the amount of growth as the other, but that one is also more robust and better looking. So there's tons of variation with Fortunei in terms of appearance, growth rate, hardiness etc. 

Smaller Fortunei are also way less hardy and can actually be prone to spear pulling. Did any of the small Fortunei's survive the freeze in DFW and College Station? I know the big ones have come through and survived, but I have heard of -10C (15F) killing small Fortunei before and that's with only 50-100 hours below freezing at most.

[smatofu]

23 minutes ago, UK_Palms said:

My biggest Fortunei grew about 3-4 foot last year, but that's for bigger specimens that already have a fair bit of trunk. You're not going to have a small 30cm Trachy put on 3 foot inside 12 months. They will be painstakingly slow at a young age and it's only when they get bigger that the growth rate increases dramatically.

This varies enormously between specimens though. My other biggish Fortunei only put on half the amount of growth as the other, but that one is also more robust and better looking. So there's tons of variation with Fortunei in terms of appearance, growth rate, hardiness etc. 

Smaller Fortunei are also way less hardy and can actually be prone to spear pulling. Did any of the small Fortunei's survive the freeze in DFW and College Station? I know the big ones have come through and survived, but I have heard of -10C (15F) killing small Fortunei before and that's with only 50-100 hours below freezing at most.

[ You're not going to have a small 30cm Trachy put on 3 foot inside 12 months.]  I didn't mean 1 ft palm to triple in size in a year. I planted 2 ft palms 2 years ago and they are about 6 ft now.

[Smaller Fortunei are also way less hardy and can actually be prone to spear pulling.] Yes, they are less hardy, but also much easier to protect in winter. 

[but I have heard of -10C (15F) killing small Fortunei before and that's with only 50-100 hours below freezing at most.] Maybe, but I never got to this as one blanket can wrap the palm very well.

Sometimes, no matter what you do, a particular palm is just not healthy. In such a case, it is much easier to replace $20 palm than $200. I don't do it anymore because I don't have any space left, but I had to replace some specimens in the past. 

 

Edited April 1, 2021 by smatofu

[smatofu]

BTW, I see some planted large palms in my area. Taller than 20ft.  They are rarely as lush as palms that grow from small. 

This is my personal impression.  

[Allen]

8 minutes ago, smatofu said:

BTW, I see some planted large palms in my area. Taller than 20ft.  They are rarely as lush as palms that grow from small. 

This is my personal impression.  

My experience here is that planting Trachy small (3-5' OA) results in a much more robust/larger palm.

[Jtee]

I had planted 3 small windmill palms that I bought at Walmart for $12-15 each. They use to be really cheap.  People say they are slow growers but I experienced the opposite. They grew like weeds. This is in New Braunfels TX. 
 

Pics are from April 2016-July 2019.
so 4 years of growth. 
 

this windmill below goes with the last windmill pic on here. Sorry I’m trying to figure out the posting pics thing on here. 

 

 

 

Sabal palmetto planted in 2017 and 2019 growth.

Edited April 1, 2021 by Jtee

[smatofu]

15 minutes ago, Jtee said:

People say they are slow growers but I experienced the opposite. They grew like weeds.

Exactly my experience! Your windmills look exceptionally well!

 

[Collectorpalms]

congrats everyone of your rockets. That still doesn’t help me find out where you can get one currently in Texas. Surely the growers in the RGV grow them and sell them up in Austin or Houston at fruit like stands with sizable trunks. 
On a positive note my tallest Livistonia is now pushing growth after 5F, which is in the row were I had planned the windmill alley. I trunk cut my 2 tallest mule palm and they still felt firm.

Edited April 1, 2021 by Collectorpalms

[Chester B]

2 hours ago, Allen said:

My experience here is that planting Trachy small (3-5' OA) results in a much more robust/larger palm.

I agree.  I had ones with 6' overall trunk planted 5 years ago.  4 years ago I planted ones with about a 1' of trunk, they're now both the same size, with the smaller ones growing into more thickly trunked specimens.

I'm thinking you'll probably have to head a little farther north to find some.

Edited April 1, 2021 by Chester B

[smatofu]

25 minutes ago, Collectorpalms said:

. That still doesn’t help me find out where you can get one currently in Texas.

Buy 4 or 6 and you will have something to choose from. 

HomeDepot:

#3 Windmill Palm (2-Pack)

$83.97 /bundle

13 available for delivery

Edited April 1, 2021 by smatofu

[smatofu]

Lowes:

$62.18

Brighter Blooms 3-Gallon Windmill Palm Tree Feature Tree in Pot

Free Delivery
Delivery Estimate: Tue, Apr 6, 2021

[Swolte]

I rarely buy large palms but I have seen large ones at *curses* moon valley nurseries (About 1 hr drive from here to Conroe). Not sure if they are currently carrying them. Sorry, not much help. I actually got mine as a 5G (or so) at Lowes. First palm I bought and its been looking great (with the exception of this past winter...). 
 

Edited April 1, 2021 by Swolte

[smatofu]

Walmart:

Windmill Palm - Chusan Palm - Trachycarpus fortunei - 4" Pot
$9.99

 

You can buy 10 and leave the ones that are growing best.  It requires patience but you get best results. 

Edited April 1, 2021 by smatofu

[Collectorpalms]

I need Five 8ft Tall windmills. 

Edited April 1, 2021 by Collectorpalms

[CiprianS]

Moon Valley Nurseries has them for sure. I think I have actually seen some when I passed there last week... I am talking about the one in Sugar Land on TX6. I will tell you about some other places, let me see where I get today because I am just about to leave.

[Jtee]

I would say York Palms Nursery in New Braunfels but I don’t recall seeing 8ft windmills but you never know

[Chester B]

1 hour ago, Collectorpalms said:

I need Five 8ft Tall windmills. 

Not sure about pricing in your area but I can tell you that they cost $150/trunk foot in this neck of the woods and they are grown by the thousands here.  One nursery will let you dig your own for $100/trunk foot.

You're looking at about $3,000.

Edited April 1, 2021 by Chester B

[Jtee]

I bought a windmill at a nursery in Beaumont for $50 last month. It has about 2 feet of trunk. I also bought a windmill in Pensacola for $100 that has about 2.5 feet of trunk. IMO the windmills don’t look as attractive the taller they get. 

[PricklyPearSATC]

Call Palm Buddha in San Antonio to see if they have any.  They deal with large palms.

But gosh, that's a long distance! 

My daughter went to A&M

Edited April 2, 2021 by PricklyPearSATC

[Keys6505]

11 hours ago, Collectorpalms said:

I could also go with 15-30 gallon container Sabals.

I know you're only looking for 15-30 gal, but I searched everywhere in Houston for Texas Sabals that were small enough to move with a dolly but big enough to offer some privacy.  I ended up at Flamingo Gardens in Galveston.  These Sabals are in 90 gallon pots and are $400 each which I thought was a pretty reasonable price.  They were field dug but have been potted for a while as per the owner and the roots growing out of the bottom of the pot.  I have a few of these being installed tomorrow.

 

7 hours ago, Swolte said:

I rarely buy large palms but I have seen large ones at *curses* moon valley nurseries (About 1 hr drive from here to Conroe). Not sure if they are currently carrying them. 

Moon in League City had some but I don't know the price.  They also had these 4-ish foot Needles for $800.

Edited April 2, 2021 by Keys6505

[CiprianS]

2 hours ago, Jtee said:

I bought a windmill at a nursery in Beaumont for $50 last month. It has about 2 feet of trunk. I also bought a windmill in Pensacola for $100 that has about 2.5 feet of trunk. IMO the windmills don’t look as attractive the taller they get. 

That is not a big price compare to what I see around here...

[PricklyPearSATC]

8 hours ago, Jtee said:

I had planted 3 small windmill palms that I bought at Walmart for $12-15 each. They use to be really cheap.  People say they are slow growers but I experienced the opposite. They grew like weeds. This is in New Braunfels TX. 
 

Pics are from April 2016-July 2019.
so 4 years of growth. 
 

this windmill below goes with the last windmill pic on here. Sorry I’m trying to figure out the posting pics thing on here. 

 

 

 

Sabal palmetto planted in 2017 and 2019 growth.

Those are some nice looking palms!

[Collectorpalms]

1 hour ago, Keys6505 said:

I know you're only looking for 15-30 gal, but I searched everywhere in Houston for Texas Sabals that were small enough to move with a dolly but big enough to offer some privacy.  I ended up at Flamingo Gardens in Galveston.  These Sabals are in 90 gallon pots and are $400 each which I thought was a pretty reasonable price.  They were field dug but have been potted for a while as per the owner and the roots growing out of the bottom of the pot.  I have a few of these being installed tomorrow.

 

Moon in League City had some but I don't know the price.  They also had these 4-ish foot Needles for $800.

Those look like trithrinax acanthocoma, Brazilian needle palm. 
I guess the area is really that cleaned out of palms?? However those do look like Filifera in the background. Since it’s Moon Nursery it’s possible since they come from the west.

Edited April 2, 2021 by Collectorpalms

[Keys6505]

9 hours ago, Collectorpalms said:

Those look like trithrinax acanthocoma, Brazilian needle palm. 
I guess the area is really that cleaned out of palms?? However those do look like Filifera in the background. Since it’s Moon Nursery it’s possible since they come from the west.

Ahhh, well that make sense.  I referenced these on another thread and someone said it would take forever for a Needle (Hystrix) to get to that size.  I couldn't figure out how Moon was selling them for only $800.

The Lowes by me has been getting palm deliveries about triple the quantity of their normal deliveries.  The pallets take up the entire aisle by the bags of dirt.  People are buying everything.  I grabbed a 13g mule from them for $159 and a huge, non trunking Majesty for $49.  I know it's on borrowed time but it's over 8' tall to the top of the fronds so I couldn't resist.

[necturus]

Houston Garden Center gets boxed Trachys in the 3-5 foot range. Couldn't tell you the price. Generally best to wait until their summertime sales, although they may not have them this year since people are emptying their wallets at the nurseries. I visited Austin this week, and the buying spree over there is 10x as insane as here in Houston. Can't believe I waited 30 minutes in my car to see 25% normal inventory at The Natural Gardener. Still managed to get some nice stuff from Barton - a 3 gallon W. fillifera, a 5 gallon C. microspadix, and lots of small S. minors.

[Collectorpalms]

6 minutes ago, Keys6505 said:

Ahhh, well that make sense.  I referenced these on another thread and someone said it would take forever for a Needle (Hystrix) to get to that size.  I couldn't figure out how Moon was selling them for only $800.

The Lowes by me has been getting palm deliveries about triple the quantity of their normal deliveries.  The pallets take up the entire aisle by the bags of dirt.  People are buying everything.  I grabbed a 13g mule from them for $159 and a huge, non trunking Majesty for $49.  I know it's on borrowed time but it's over 8' tall to the top of the fronds so I couldn't resist.

can you get a picture of the item number on the mule palm so I can look them up and find one near me.

[CiprianS]

3 hours ago, necturus said:

Houston Garden Center gets boxed Trachys in the 3-5 foot range. Couldn't tell you the price. Generally best to wait until their summertime sales, although they may not have them this year since people are emptying their wallets at the nurseries. I visited Austin this week, and the buying spree over there is 10x as insane as here in Houston. Can't believe I waited 30 minutes in my car to see 25% normal inventory at The Natural Gardener. Still managed to get some nice stuff from Barton - a 3 gallon W. fillifera, a 5 gallon C. microspadix, and lots of small S. minors.

HGC have jacked up their prices recently for Palms compared to what prices they had last year.  

[Keys6505]

4 hours ago, Collectorpalms said:

can you get a picture of the item number on the mule palm so I can look them up and find one near me.

Here ya go.  It's not huge for a 13g, but for $159 I'm happy with it.

[Keys6505]

And these are the Sabals I got for $400 from Flamingo (plus install).  The 2 on the ends.  The middle one was more but I don't remember how much.  The 2 Filifera were $240 each.  They were sold as pure Filifera and there's no red/brown on the petioles, spines get smaller closer to the leaf, etc so I'm hoping they're pure(ish).  Looks like they took the cold relatively well.

[Meangreen94z]

The great outdoors had one in that size range either on their deck or parking lot area when I went to leave . Didn’t stop to look

[Collectorpalms]

17 hours ago, Keys6505 said:

And these are the Sabals I got for $400 from Flamingo (plus install).  The 2 on the ends.  The middle one was more but I don't remember how much.  The 2 Filifera were $240 each.  They were sold as pure Filifera and there's no red/brown on the petioles, spines get smaller closer to the leaf, etc so I'm hoping they're pure(ish).  Looks like they took the cold relatively well.

Really great you got three Sabals. Well worth the money.

I was scammed too many times on filifera that turned out to be Robusta that I won’t plant anymore unless I grow them. Those don’t look like the ones that were in the row of the Brazilian needle that I commented they COULD be Filifera???

the item number didn’t work for the Mule, are there anymore? I think they are just not in the system.

Edited April 3, 2021 by Collectorpalms

[Fusca]

13 hours ago, Collectorpalms said:

the item number didn’t work for the Mule, are there anymore? I think they are just not in the system.

Ryan, I called 5 or 6 different Lowe's in my area and none of them had any.  One guy that I talked to told me that they had it in their system but didn't have any on hand.  He said that I'd have to special order one.  I'd think it could be special ordered from CS as well.

[Keys6505]

15 hours ago, Collectorpalms said:

Those don’t look like the ones that were in the row of the Brazilian needle that I commented they COULD be Filifera???

the item number didn’t work for the Mule, are there anymore? I think they are just not in the system.

No, different Filifera.  These I got from Flamingo as well.

There were only 3 mules in that massive Lowe's palm delivery I mentioned and I got one of them.  They were already pretty picked over when I was there again yesterday.  I didn't see any more but I'll keep an eye out and let you know if I do.