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Have You Tried Growing Bananas?

© Diana Pederson

Gardeners are always looking for an exciting plant to trial for the coming gardening season. This year, I'd like to suggest you try a banana plant. The first step you should take before beginning this experiment is to read James W. Waddick and Glenn M. Stokes book, Bananas You Can Grow, published by the Stokes Tropicals Publishing Company in 2000. This is the first volume in a new "Tropical Plants You Can Grow" series of books to be published by Stokes Tropicals.

I found this book to be very educational and challenging. The authors divided the book into four sections. The introduction explains how to use the book. The section called "Bananas in the Garden" talks about the species that belong to this family and taking proper care of them in either the garden or as container plants. It also teaches you how to propagate a banana plant. Growing bananas in both cold climate and mild climates is discussed. This section also teaches about the 3 types of bananas: ornamental (non-edible), cooking, and dessert.

The main portion of the book, section 3, illustrates and discusses the banana genera, species, and cultivars. Information is presented on both the banana family and its close relatives. I was surprised to learn that Birds of Paradise, a favorite tropical plant, Cannas, gingers, and "prayer plants" are all related to bananas. Next the authors discuss in detail the 3 banana genera. This is followed by discussion of the individual species and cultivars. A quick view is presented for each banana giving the basics of height, growing zones, and other remarks. These "quick views" are in boxes along the margins of the page which makes it easy to quickly review whether a particular banana would suit your gardening needs. Each species is illustrated with one or more photographs.

I went through this section carefully to see if it would be possible to identify a banana species that could be grown in USDA Zone 5 gardens. I was successful, much to my surprise. Musa basjoo , the Japanese Fiber banana (not edible) is a banana plant that would be hardy in my Michigan Garden if I provide a bit of winter protection. This is an exciting possibility to me because ornamental banana plants are quite tropical looking. The plant would die back to its roots once cold weather set in but would resume growing in the spring. I'll have to try one of these plants in the future. I'd just love to tell my townehouse neighbors that I was growing a banana plant in my back yard.

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