I should state "the state DIRECTLY south of Michigan (i.e. illinois, ohio, and indiana)" actually get lowere temps than SE MICHIGAN.

Wow nice compilation! You guys really do Michigan tropical growers proud!

Where is that really tall windmill at the beginning of the slideshow growing? Was it planted that tall or has it grown to that size here in Michigan?(Looks like open field behind it)

How do you store your bananas and elephant ears through winter? I see you have a detached garage, so it must freeze in there.

In zone 6 you should be able to leave masoo basjoo hardy bananas in the ground. Just cut them down to the ground after first frost. Let it get exposed to cold to trigger dormancy. Then mulch heavily. They are supposed to be hardy to zone 5 or 6.

The guy with the really large palms planted those in Clarkston Michigan about 2-3 years ago. He said he gets about a foot of growth or so a growing season. Evidently, these trees grow very slowly in cold weather, but last year, mine grew two small fronds while enclosed with large styro rose cover.

As for bananas, I've tried over wintering in the ground and have had success with those close to the house. I did get one to come up with only some leave and visqueen (sp?) cover, but I typically cut all of the leaves except the furled one, pull up by root, clean dirt off, and store the base (culm) in leaf bags through mid-Nov through early-May in the basement. I now have 3 year old, a 2 year old, and 3 pups (however, my one pup grew 15 ft - plus this year, it actually dwarfed my 3 and2 year olds).

Very fun stuff!

I've found the same results when planting bananas close to the house. It seems to give them an advantage, and they're pretty reliable. I haven't had success planting bananas out in the middle of the yard and getting them to come back.

How do you grow them there it's really cold in the winter? How do they stay alive? I was there in 2008 and it got to -15. I live in south central Florida. and there are some not even I can grow outside.

Yes it does get cold here in the winter, but -15 is very uncommon, probably a record low for that day, the coldest it gets here most winters that I've been observing is about -2. But bananas will come back from the corm/roots if they freeze to the ground. The key to keeping them alive here is keeping the corm and ground around them from freezing. We cut them down to the ground, cover them with mulch, and cover the mulch with a tarp to keep it dry. Only certain varieties are hardy enough to come back from that cold though.

Quite often, you'll hear the Wind chill temps on some of the colderdays. This is not always the 'real' temp, but what it may feel like on your exposed skin if you get outside. The last 10-15 years, those of us in SE Michigan rarely see anything below 0F, however, it may hit that temp for a couple of hours during the very coldest stretch of each Winter. On those dates, if it is windy, you may experience temps that feel like -15 F.

Also, right along Lake Michigan Coastline, and in SE Michigan, we have somewhat more maritime like temps than inland Michigan, or those areas even further south like Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. The continental areas away from the Great Lakes are not as buffered by the relatively warmer than outside temps.

I hope this helps explain why parts of Michigan are a true anomoly and makes our coastal areas great fruit growing areas and wineries abound.

My pics are 'Popogirl' on the album. The elephant ears I dug up and am storing the bulbs in a burlap bag under the basement stairs. The musa basjoo (banana) I let die back (my neighbor lets his die back and he doesn't even cut it down...just uses some leaf mulch and that's IT and his is taller than his house and 3 yrs old!). Then I encased the musa and the 2 sago palms and 1 trachy (babies) in burlap/wooden stakes and filled the whole thing with dead leaves and straw on top. If you put your hand in there it's nice and warm. Here in the Huron Valley (esp with the climate change) it's not been so bad in winter. Not like up in Oakland Cty or below us, in OH. Maybe -15 for 1 or 2 days. No biggie. They're all right next to the house/basement window. The Chinese Fan Palm and Windmill Palms are all wrapped up, too. Paypyrus, Majesty (cut back to one spear), a fern and some pygmy date palms are inside- many in very wet pots (full of peat moss and pea gravel)- for the winter in the sun room (average 50 degrees- not cold enough to kill anything but not warm enough to cause them problems, everything is slowed or dormant) My cilantro is STILL alive and growing and so are a couple annual flowers. Geez. People say climate change like it's a bad thing! ; )

Uncovered mine a couple of days ago. Took this picture today. No other tree in the neighborhood has a leaf on it yet. I live in Sterling Heights Michigan just a few miles north of detroit. I planted this I belive May of 2011.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tropics of Michigan

Your trachy looks good and so do all your other pics! Shouldnt be too long before things start greening up by you! The weather has been amazing thus month for much of the country.
Things are getting green here, but I dont think we will be much ahead of you since it has been very warm inland compared to coastal locations like mine (still warm, but not as consitently warm because of the cold water this time of the year!).
Thanks for sharing!
-Alex

stgawne,

How did you cover your windmill palm this winter? We have one about the same size as yours that we also planted in May 2011. I put steel fence post in the ground and then when it would be 20 or below wrapped it in clear plastic. I now have some brown leaves. Someone thought that they might have gotten burned by being against the plastic on a sunny day. Does anyone have any suggestions or instructions on the best way to protect a 4 1/2-5ft windmill in cold weather? Will these leaves green back up or should we cut them off? Any help would be appreciated.

Here are a couple pictures of the palms and bananas I got from Plant Delights last year.
Everyone survived my leaf and straw filled burlap and wood stake atrocity!

Here is a link that might be useful: My Flickr Album-