how big were they when you started

Do you give them any protection? They look great!

-Alex

These were about 3 feet tall to the top frond when I got them. The first year I didn't protect them at all. They were totally buried in snow several times in 2010. In '11 and '12 I did cage them with C9 xmas lights clipped to the inside of the cage and stuffed with leaves, and covered with a frost blanket. This seemed to give them a head start for the growing season. But I uncovered them a bit too early this year and it didn't seem to matter. They've consistantly pushed out a 10 -12 fronds each year and seem to almost double in size. They only receive about 4 hours of direct sun each day. My yard is shaded by a lot of trees. Yet they thrive. I fertilize with "Nurseryman's Palm Fertilizer" in April and July. These are super hardy palms!

I don't doubt it at all. I was recently at a Mexican place near me, they had some huge trees in the ground, 15-ft tall! They're not in pots, the stone floor tile was built around the trunks.

Check out photo 1 and 2

Must be getting old here.

As a Queens native, I can tell you Queen palms didn't used to be found growing on the streets of Queens, NY., and it definitely was not 'the tree that grows in Brooklyn' either. (Am assuming that the palms in the pictures are Queen palms.)

Do you know if they overwintered in that location?

I think those are some sort of Trachycarpus in the photos, they have definitely overwintered, I've seen them before, and the current older foliage looks very much like it went through winter burn.

Xero, the palms posted in those pics are not Trachys. They are not even palmate (feather) palms, they're pinnate (feather palms)--most likely Queen Palms.