Zone 7 is in the mountains. Lowland areas where population concentrated Zone 8. Palm nuts and other enthusiasts grow wine palms for varying periods of time up here but they are far from being as reliable as windmill palm, the only palm to become a long-persisting, common landscape feature here.

A small Chilean wine palm that grew for awhile in a warmish, sheltered south-facing slope Seattle garden (where a tall Eucalyptus dalrympleana, a Chilean hazel (Gevuina) and a banana shrub (Magnolia figo) have lived for years) eventually froze out.

Results with Jubaea in the Pacific Northwest with Jubaea have been mixed. While there are no known large, trunked specimens in the region, some have persisted here in sheltered gardens since the early 1990's without protection, and others have been damaged or killed in severe winters. Jubaea seems more likely to survive a severe winter if it is not pampered with too much water and fertilizer during the growing season. For the best chance of survival it should be in full sun, and it should not be watered or fertilized in late summer or fall once it is established. Old, established plants in Europe and elsewhere have been known to withstand temperatures in the single digits without harm. Certainly any effort to grow this magnificent plant is worth the risk.

Does anyone have some chilean wine palm seeds they can send me? I can't get any around here where I live. Thanks. I would also appreciate any advice on planting the seeds as well. If not I will just look it up in a book.

2713 W ABERDEEN DR.
MONTGOMERY, AL 36116

THANKS AGAIN,
DAVID

wow. three year pause in this thread!

since this got bumped by THANKS AGAIN DAVID, i wonder if there is any info on how Jubaea fared this winter...

All the Palm Society folks in Vancouver BC are generally reporting they're dead (perhaps with a couple exceptions; I don't know). Not a speck of damage on mine however. This will be year #9 in the ground for it. The difference is.... MINE RECEIVES NO SUPPLEMENTAL WATER AND FERTIlIZER... while the palm people, as far as I've heard, pamper theirs literally to death.

For seeds and germination advice, try rarepalmseeds.com.

I bought a seedling that is supposed to be a cross between a jelly palm and a Chilean wine palm. It's quite stunning and supposed to be pretty hardy, but so far I've brought it up to the covered porch in the winter.

All of my rarer versions of Trachycarpus like windermere palm, nanus, takil died after this especially cold Seattle winter.

Windmill (rather than Windermere) palm has been the most successful in this area. Some are beat up after this past winter, but it is not usual for it to freeze out completely.

The Sunset WESTERN GARDEN BOOK (2007, Sunset Publishing, Menlo Park) says Chilean Wine Palm needs "Little or no water" and is "Hardy for a palm (to 20F/-7C)."

Windermere palm is the common name someone coined for Trachycarpus latisectus. So far this palm hasn't been hardy much below about 20 degrees F. I've been growing them almost since the seeds were first available 10 years ago and again they are certainly a bit hardier if not watered and fertilized as much - but, I think, probably still not hardy enough to survive here. It's an attractive plant, though.

Now that you point that out I remember I had seen that name being used before. Outside of collections and nurseries just about all you see are windmill and Mediterranean fan palms. Most of the feather palms planted in publicly visible landscapes in recent years here have already died out.

We're spelling it incorrectly; apparently it's Windamere.

Of the relatively recent Trachycarpus introductions, I think about half of them have a shot here.

Availability remains a major obstacle to continuation of palm trials in our region. Last time I checked, it was almost impossible to find more than one species of any genus. I'm starting seeds of a few more types now and perhaps I'll have them available someday if I can keep them alive long enough.