Grow Bananas For An Authentic Tropical Garden Look!
© Paul T. Nawrocki
Bananas for a More Tropical Garden Effect!
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Bananas (plant family MUSA), should be considered as garden subjects more often to achieve a more tropical look in any garden, from Zones 8 through 12! In Zones 8 and 9, bananas will most likely die back, after a killing frost, to the ground, only to emerge the following spring even more vigourously! What the gardener should do to the plants, after the hard freeze, is to mulch the plants heavily so that the rhizomes below ground level can remain frost free by keeping the soil fairly warm until spring returns to the area. When weather warms, to consistantly above (10 degrees C.) 50 degrees F. at night, your bananas certainly will resume healthy growth! Always keep plants well-watered, and fertilise heavily when weather is stays above 20 degrees C. (68 degrees F.) Your plants should produce heavy new stalks within about three or four short weeks! 'Tis worth the wait! Bananas will fruit within 18 months of the last killing freeze, or in about a year if the plants are grown in a frost free zone like Queensland, So. Florida, So. California, Rio Grande Region of Texas, lower desert region of Arizona, the Caribbean Basin lowlands, and the usual tropical areas of Africa & South America.
Your banana plant will expire after fruiting, but by then, numerous plantlets will have already formed all around the base of the mature "mother" banana plant. These can readily be separated and planted throughout your banana garden! Enjoy your banana plants with or without fruit, as it provides a look of the tropics that can ONLY be achieved by bananas!
Paul, "The Wise Gardener!"
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