Steve - I lived in NJ for 44 years, landscaped, grew hundreds of indoor plants, grew vegetables in gardens and pots on my deck, and never once even gave a moment's thought to putting a palm in the ground!

My hat's off to you for doing it; I can't wait to see what these look like in 10 years. But just so the rest of us tropical gardeners don't think Steve is crazy, here's the same Trachycarpus fortunei growing just below street level in Edinborough, Scotland.

Steve,excellent job!I really enjoyed your pics,beautifull palms! You have a great micro climate with those brick walls,I bet they help out alot,I see the needle is more outback so to speak,I'm curious how long its been planted, how big it was when planted,if you protected it when it was small,and what kind of temps its seen?

Your first pic is about the size of my two Trachy fortuneis. Is the one in the first photo fortunei or wagnerianus? My next palm to go into the ground is the Butia (I have been waiting for it to get to the respectable size). Also, I'll have a warm western wall of the house next year to plant it as I'll be removing two old, overgrown conifers. (This summer the tricky part has been painting and plastering the exterior without damaging the palms or other plants that have been planted around the house.) Do you protect the Trachycarpus at all. I wrapped the trunks last winter with white insolating blankets but don't know if this helps or actually hurts (trapping in moisture--preventing the sun from warming the trunks itself, etc.). They pulled through with a bit of burning to the older foliage but look fine now. One last question--how long have the Butia and trachy's been the ground?

I grow the minors & louisianas from seed to pint or gallon size and trachys, Chamaerops, the Butia, & the Washingtonia filifera from seed to gallon or occasionally beyond. I've gotten away with seedling gallon needles by planting several inches deep. I have needles in exposed and sheltered sites. needles suffered ice & wind damage in 1994 (-6F). Trachys by my house are protected on very cold nights as vinyl siding Doesn't give off much heat. Palms on public property receive a winter mulch mound of shredded leaves when young, eventually receiving only nominal mulch. I have seed-producing minors & louisianas in a few locations. My largest needle (not pictured) has been outdoors over 20 years while the palms on public property have survived 2 to 7 winters(2 winters for Butia). I have 20 yr old exposed & sheltered minors. Very few on public property have died. Then again, 1994 was the last subzero here. The pictured trachy in last post is wagnerianus.

louisianas & a few strains of trachys at Palmyra Cove Nature Park. They've grown since this winter pic was taken.
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very nice stuff!

That one tall trachy that appears to be up under part of a house... arent you afraid its going to hit the house when it gets bigger? It looks like its going to grow straight into the "ceiling" above it!

How old is that Needle Palm that you have pictured covered in snow? Just curious. I love seeing what folks north of me are doing and getting to survive winters, and even thrive!

Very nice stuff in deed!

Outstanding.. congrats steve !