Going Bananas!

This year we are doing something we have never done before: we are growing banana “trees.”

Trish and I ordered and set out four varieties of bananas from those listed as most hardy.  These are listed as having hardiness for Zone 8 and since we are in Zone 9, one notch south, we decided to give it a try.

We have: Lady Finger, Ice Cream, Misi Luki, and Raja Puri plants.  We put them out in the early spring and they just sat there for a very long time.  In fact, the Raja Puri looked for all the world like it was dead, but when I called the nursery to ask about it, they told me to scratch the stem and if I got any green, it was still alive.  We left it alone and sure enough it began to grow.  Right now it is outgrowing all the rest and has huge leaves.

Now that they have taken hold, they are adding about one new leaf each week.

The trees are putting out about one new leaf each week.  The leaves are each one bigger than the one before and are now more than three feet long.  Whatever happens in the long run, it is a joy just to have these plants and see them grow so rapidly.

The Raja Puri is supposed to get up to twenty feet tall!

Last winter we had no frost here and if that happens again we may get bananas...but...it may also take four or five years.  We shall see.  They are lots of fun.