yup *** wipes drool off of chin...... Almsot hard to belive what they can get away with most of the time....

Erik,
Last year I tried to over winter a pindo about same size as yours,had it cover with just plastic,it looked great all winter,stayed just as green as it was when I covered it,just like my washy robusta,except without any heat source,and when I removed the plastic come spring,I had spear pull and the palm slowly died all summer long .
I have several pindo seedlings,that I will try again when they get some size to them,but I think just keeping them covered and dry isn't enough,I think they need some heat.
I hope yours makes it,as your a few degrees warmer than me.
Don

Don,
you are right about Butia. Beautiful, but really a zone 8b type of palm. I will give it electric heat next winter and there after.

Brief history of this one:
I bought it from Cistus in Oregon as a 1 gallon plant in 2005. They say (and I believe them) that it came from an adult in South Carolina ("SC Shell station"; details below)

I planted it in April, 2006. It has never had electric heat, just hay for mulch/insulation; a water jug to thermal buffering, and a large bucket for cover. It is always defoliated, but regrows over the summer (my avatar is from August 2009).

However, it is now getting a trunk and so the growth bud is up above the ground, which makes it more vulnerable.

Yesterday I wrapped it in 6" fiberglass insulation all around and over the top, added a 2 liter water bottle and covered it with the 32 gallon trash can. I think it will be sufficient this winter as we are relatively mild so far and the ground is warm (e.g., 40 oF this morning despite air of about 17 oF). However, next winter and thereafter it will get electric heat. I think it has been foolish pride that has kept me from doing that, but that video I linked to above shows the consequence of that (non) protection strategy....

--Erik

Details from Cistus catalog:
Butia capitata [South Carolina Shell Station]pindo palm
With our travels far and wide around the world to find ever newer plants, exotic collection sites can hardly get better than this. On a road trip to interior South Carolina, having spotted eight lovely pindo palms that had withstood rigorous winters and all the harsh conditions a mini-strip mall can provide, we brought home seeds in several large Slurpee containers. The palms, a pretty silver-blue, were otherwise typical. They should grow to about 15 ft producing lovely arched pinnate leaves that curl upon extension. Bright sun, good drainage, and overhead protection at 12 to 15F, lower to mid USDA zone 8.
Arecaceae 4D $15

Erik,
Sounds like with that much insulation over it,you should be just fine.
Mine was about your size or a little larger,my thinking if I just kept the crown dry,I would be fine,so I just covered it with plastic and threw a quilt over it,but the cold did it in anyway,funny thing it looked good all the way to July and then slowly started loosing leaves one a time until it totally defoliated.
I have a bunch of seedlings,I got from Virgina Beach,and they see snow quite often there and they use no protection,so I'm hoping these pindos will be a lot hardier than the one I got from Florida.