P. theophrastii is regarded as the hardiest within the genus Phoenix. It's marginally hardier than dactylifera or canarienesis. Dispite what "Dave" says, NO it isn't as hardy as Trachycarpus fortunei. There's plenty of inaccuracies around, and this happens to be one of them.

Cheers, Barrie.

it's hardy to about 16 deg.f and is a modrate growth speed. its not as hardy as trachycarpus fortunie.

merry christamas. steve

Thanks for the information. I have another question, are they as hardy as a Chinese Fan Palm? In the book Palms don't grow here and other Myths, it said that it can be grown even in zone 5 as a die back perennial!

they are hardier than chinese fan, it's hardy to about 20 deg f.

merrychristamas steve

Thanks for the answers. I'll experiment with this palm and see if it can actually grow here.

Anyone leading you believe a palm (Chinese fan or otherwise) is a die back perennial, is full of it (or something that ryhmes with "it").

Cheers, Barrie.

In Illinois, stick with needles. Ask Kyle.. wink!

In a dry climate it si reputedly the hardiest of all phoenix by a degree or two.. In a wet climate it is supposedly less hardy than dactylifera by a degree or 2....so, depending on where you live, it is reputedly hardy to anywhere from 14-20 degrees.

I have a number of these that I've grown from seed a couple of years ago. They're in gallon pots and have managed very well with only overhead cover during winter. The soil stays moist but not too wet in winter and these poor palms managed one night when the mercury dipped to almost 13F. Most of my frosts are in the 20 - 30F range. Humidity is very high here in winter and so far hasn't been a problem. I'm encouraged enough to plant one or 2 next spring to see how they fair.

Cheers, Barrie.

IL Palms,
You could try growing Needle Palms, Sabal Minors, and even Trachies, if you are up for helping them along the way. For my Trachycarpus Fortunei, I just use rope lights and frost cloths, and my trachy is doing great, and it is on its second winter. When it gets mild, I take off the protection. Here it is this Christmas Eve:

{{gwi:867427}}

Good luck,
Kyle

P.S.- E-mail me if you have any questions, I'd be glad to help with info.

kyle, Where did you get the frost cloths at? i am sure you had to order them online because i don;t think anyone in the chicago area would have them would they? Your windmill looks great how old is it again? I hope mine looks like that once i plant it in the spring. Did you have to do anything to the soil as far as making more sandy when you planted it or did you just use the normal chicago area soil that is allready there?

Spataro,
I ordered one online from: http://store.arbico-organics.com/1269502.html
But what also works well are the black cloths that you line beds or rock gardens with to protect weeds from growing, that are available in spring from home depot or stores like that.
I'm not sure how old the plant is, but I planted it at a 5 gal size in March 2004, so its been in the ground for almost two years now. For the soil, I added some sand, and some fresh top soil, and just mixed it into the chicago soil. Try not to make the soil too different than the native soil, because it will need to accept it sooner or later. Mixing them together does the trick.

Kyle

Chitown033,
What a beautiful palm. I can't believe that picture was taken Christmas eve. Very interested to see that palm with its winter protection on.

Hi everybody in in italy where i live there many Trachycarpus Fortunei between 35cm an 90cm circonference of the trunk and tall till 12metres.i have started to climb up and pruning with stuff that doesn't damage the palm but i would like to be sure how hard it is i'm about 70kg.....

I know this is an old post, but you should definitely look in to needle palms. They look very tropical, and are the hardiest palm of all, which means that little protection if any at all is necessary.