Banana update

Late last fall I put the bananas (Musa basjoo) to bed for the winter, as I do every year. I did things differently that last time, doing as little as I could to protect them. Yes I mulched with leaves, but this time I didn't create a cage to fill, cover it with plastic, or anything else. I just put a minimal amount of leaves and hoped for the best.

Well, the winter was not mild by any measure, especially if you're a tropical herbaceous flowering plant. I was curious to see how my "protection" worked, and what would emerge come spring. As seen above in a photo taken a month ago on May 24, everything is fine!

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Although none of last year's stems (pseudostems) survived and resprouted, as you can see...

...almost 20 new ones have emerged.

How big will these get though?

I have every reason to expect that they will reach the same size as they did last year, especially if we get a fair amount of rain. Need proof?

Here they are today...

...where they are already at least 7' (2m) tall -- although I really don't know how to measure since the terminal leaf always sticks straight up.

The nice thing about them at this size? I get to see all of the details right at eye level!

For those five or so months that these are missing from the garden, there feels like there's a hole there -- something is just not right. It's all back to normal now though!


More updates as the summer progresses.

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