Topic: can i grow a banana plant outdoors?

[legless]

not for bananas obviously!

i'd really love one, is there a hardy-ish type that will grow outdoors (will be in east anglia)?

i'm new to non- veg gardening!

Jo

[Ceratonia]

I've got a few bananas growing outdoors, in East Anglia, so it's certainly possible. They're all looking very sorry for themselves at the moment, though, so there may be one or two ex-bananas. My neighbour grows lots of them - her garden looks like a jungle plantation in summer.

Musa basjoo is the most common 'hardy' banana, but there are several others you can grow too. It is not really 'hardy' in that frost will destroy the leaves and most people give them some protection over winter, but the root system is very hardy and will regrow in spring. Wind is their enemy more than frost - it will rip leaves quite easily.

There are a few gardens open to the public in East Anglia & Essex that have quite a lot of bananas and other 'exotics' - East Ruston Old Vicarage Garden up by Norwich is quite well known.

[Roy Bham UK]

Hi Jo, I have Banana plants growing on my lottie they were doing well until the local yobs decided they looked better lying down >:( but they are coming back with avengance, they had to be wrapped in fleece as it dips well below freezing here in Brum :'(
This is a more tender Banana plant Sikkimensis hookerii in a pot in our back garden


Will Giles has a beautiful exotic garden in the east and grows massive banana plants amongst many other leafy monsters. ;D Take a peek. ;D

http://www.exoticgarden.com/the_garden.html

[legless]

woohoo! thats great news! i have taken note of those varieties and will nose at the links, thank you!

[Doris_Pinks]

Legless, we are hopefully moving soon and so shall be removing some of my Musa Basjoo in the next few weeks, weather permitting! Do you want a couple of babies? PM me if you do! ;D

[cate]

We have had a masa bajoo in the garden for a few years now.  We wrap it with fleece in the autumn and it does fine.

We had another, the variety I am not sure of, which was red on the underside of the leaf.  We bought that one indoors every winter.  Unfortunately, or fortunately as it turned out, it was damaged but then started producing masses of babies.  We must have given away about two dozen and kept three ourselves.  I know that none of those who were 'adopted' have survived.  The three we kept are in the greenhouse and not looking particularly healthy.

[Roy Bham UK]

Sounds like you have an Ensete ventricosum, a beautiful banana plant with very large paddles grows enormous even in a modest pot.
I had one and lost it to cold weather as they are tender. :'(

[cate]

Yes, that looks exactly like it.  I think I will take in the three in the greenhouse and start giving them a bit a TLC.

These tropical plants are a headache in the winter.  We have an 'elephants ears' (my other half could give you to Latin name but he has just gone to bed) which is dragged from hall to conservatory to sitting room from autumn to summer depending on what else we have to accommodate.  It was very tempting to cast it out and let it fend for itself when the Christmas tree needed to be sited in December.

Problem is that because these plants are so expensive to buy, they have usually been bought for a special occasion.  The 'ears' were a 52nd birthday present for my husband and to let it die would be ......... unlucky, if you know what I mean.

[Roy Bham UK]

There are two I know of Alocasia gagaena dwarf Elephant ear and Alocasia macrorrhizos giant Elephant ear, I had both the latter died last year through root rot, a friend of mine had one growing in his living room that reached the ceiling, it was awesome. 8)

I’m struggling to keep the dwarf alive indoors with problems of the dreaded spider mite. :(

Sorry for Hi-jacking your thread Legless. ;)