Tropic Wonder

Banana plants add plenty of jungle-like drama to a plot – and they’re far more robust than you think

AS I WRITE this from my upstairs office, I’m looking out of a window upon my back garden. It offers the perfect bird’s- eye view of a small grove of banana plants that were started from a solitary, 3ft-tall specimen five years ago. Thanks to its suckering habit, there are now eight stems in total, with the tallest stretching over 8ft.

At this point last year, they were topped with a canopy of 6ft-long, paddle-shaped leaves. Sadly, cooler temperatures this spring have held them back, and the few leaves they had produced so far were shredded by violent gales. Still, once the weather

Plants suitable for our climate range from chest high gems to 20ft giants

improves they’ll pump out a leaf a week until slowing down in autumn.

My bananas go by the botanical handle of Musa basjoo and have ave several common names, including hardy banana and fibre banana. It’s t’s also erroneously known as Japanese banana because samples amples were originally sent nt to Britain from Japan, an, although plants are re actually native to o subtropical southern China.

Imported by James Veitch & Sons nursery in the late 19th Century, Musa basjoo i s now the most popular banana variety in the UK and cert ai nl y t he most dependable to grow w outdoors. Yet it’s far ar from the only type ype available. There are plenty of others that hat will add drama to gardens ens with their stature, foliage e and exotic good looks.

Coming from China, hi S South-East th E t Asia, Bangladesh, India and tropical Africa, these plants fall into two main groups: musa and ensete. Breeding work on the pair has given rise to hundreds of varieties across the world, with some 30 available to gardeners in the UK, ranging from chest-high gems to 20ft giants.

Taller species are sometimes referred to as banana t trees due to their trunkl like stems or as palms be because they are topped wit with a parasol of leaves. In fact, they are neither. Banan Banana plants are a distant relation to ginger and are technically cl classified as herbs as their ‘ trunk’, o or pseudostem, doesn’t contain w woody tissue. M Mention ti bananas and the first thing most people will think of are curved fruit with yellow skin and sweet white flesh. Unfortunately these are produced by varieties that require tropical temperatures and those suitable for growing outdoors in this country tend to produce bunches of small, hard, green and insipid fruit.

Adventurous types with a conservatory can try growing their own fruit. Musa ‘ Dwarf Cavendish’ is the world’s most popular commercial type and plants are readily available. It can be displayed outdoors in summer, but to produce bananas it needs a constant temperature of 15C for 15 months, followed by four months at 27C.

Banana plants like a sunny spot and moisture-retentive soil. They are an essential element of junglelike borders and exotic gardens but they can also be used to give traditional beds and borders a lift, and make fine specimens in lawns. Compact types make great subjects for large containers.

Water regularly, especially during dry spells, and feed with a highnitrogen fertiliser once a month during the growing season.

Windy weather will tear the leaves of some varieties, giving them the air of something likely to be found on a tropical island. If their tatty appearance bothers you, snip leaves off close to the stem.

Tender varieties will need moving to a frost-free place over winter. Others are tough enough to survive outside with protection. For example, t he foliage of Musa basjoo can withstand temperatures of minus 2C and is root hardy to minus 10C, while golden lotus banana (Musa lasiocarpa) is tough

enough to survive a cold snap down to minus 8C.

In mid to late autumn, I cut the leaves off my bananas and then surround the group of stems with a ring of chicken wire held in place with cable ties.

Loose straw is then stuffed into the void and a bin bag placed on top to keep out rain. The struct ure remains i n place until mid-spring, when there’s little danger of a hard frost.