Musa Ornata Milky Way Banana Flower

Milky Way is a recent introduction to the ornamental banana collectors trade I've had for 4 years maybe. It grows to 7.5' in height and 6' wide in 2 or 3 years for me here. It makes a thick grove as trees grow close together. Leaves have a dark grey purple tinge and blooms are gorgeous but, hard to photograph as automatic focus doesn't like white and tends to focus on something darker like the closest leaf or stem. I've grown it in several different environments here in zone 8b and have been over all very pleased with its performance. However it will not bloom well if it is grown in less than ideal conditions. The plant is a  little hard to find but worth the while. I believe I bought this plant from Martha's Secrets on line store. She 's a very nice lady and good at her business.

Musa Siamensis Banana Flower

Musa Siamensis is a recent introduction into the collectors trade of ornamenatal bananas from Asia that grows to 9'. I hear it can be a little invasive but I've had no problems so far in the 3 or 4 years it's been here in my yard. It seems to like more water than the average ornamental banana, and will not grow taller than 2' nor bloom  in shade. However in full sun and with ample moisture, it's foilage is a beautiful deep rich green I haven't seen before in any banana tree. I have it growing in three environments and next spring I think know what to do with it. 

Musa laterita, Bronze Banana

Musa laterita is one fine ornamental banana. Native to Indochina, it's only grown in the U.S. by a few collectors, and not very well known to the trade, garden centers, or the average gardener. It is an inedible,  joyous celebration of a plant and it's not da kine to get rid a bra, as the Hawaiians might say.

It behaves just like a typical banana, it wakes up late March here in the South, and begins growing like a banana should 1st of May.

Bananas hate wind, it can make them ragedy, they're just not made sturdy enough, but can rebound from a storm quickly.  They love heat to 90F but get droopy at 95F and any hotter they will look plum sickly.  Banana trees love rain, three times a day, every day is what they like, with good drainage of cource. They are imune to fungus, spot, and pest free here. They love grass clippings or anything organic from last year around the base. Old bales of hay work wonderfully, the older the better, and especially during droughts.

8' high 10 ' wide grove started 2 years ago with 3 small plants.

If your banana freezes in winter, let it keep the years growth. It's what it will feed on next spring and summer, so cut it slightly above the ground, pile the old growth on top of the corm and cover the unsightliness with the mulch of your choice. I use old hay spread 2'' thick everywhere except around the house. I believe it is more nutritious than pine bark, and more so readily available to the plant.

The best thing you can do for your plant is improve the ground around it. So learn of its sand, clay content, porosity, and PH. This will eventually lead you to understand that the plant benefits greatly from the grass clippings around it, so improve the health of your grass, and throw it towards your plant with the lawn mower. I am a long time plant collector, and every plant I have in the ground, loves the flavor of grass clippings.

All green things speak the same language, unlike the man who spends most of his life learning the most basic terminology. The problem is, he thinks too often he is the teacher, but in fact the student to a source all knowing. So pay attention to this fact early in your life, and you will learn all important and beautifully far ranging truths.

If you fertilize bananas with cheap triple 13 fertilizer, they will make you smile brother, but they are not picky, they do just fine with little attention in the Southeast, where it should be against the law not to have a banana tree by your porch, so when it rains, it can summon the beauty of its home in the moan-tane rainforest.  If you walk through the rain forest, in the rain cousin, you will understand.

Musa laterita will flower it's heart out for you. As soon as it achieves its full height in May, it will bloom till the temps dip below 55F in the fall, then it will get sleepy until the frost kills it to the ground, at which point, the corm rests the winter to do it all over again next spring, here in South Louisiana, zone 8b... Imagine a good and faithful soldier.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_laterita

Musa Siam Ruby Banana Tree

I purchased 4 tissue cultures of this plant a year ago, kept them through the winter in a window in my house along with other small ornamental bananas, where I learned Siam Ruby is a bit more fussy.

In March I planted 3 plants in different environments in my garden, and one in a container inside my shade house.

So far it is my opinion that they are cold sensitive, do not like the low humidity inside a house, leaves are tattered easily in the wind, and stalks are weak. The plant in the shade house under drip irrigation fares best, and is a joy to grow.

The tissue cultures in this batch were not consistent in color as some are a bit more green in coloring than others. I prefer this one that is almost entirely red.

 Plant yours out of the wind or harsh sun. It loves ideal conditions, where it grows to 8 feet high and 5 feet wide in one summer. In the spring I will let you know how it fares zone 8b temperatures in the ground.

OK, spring 2015 is here and Siam Ruby is coming out of the ground like a winner. It survived a colder than average winter in zone 8b.

Musa ''African Red '' Banana

I acquired this ornamental banana as a very healthy corm this past fall from Zone 9 Tropicals in Houston, Tx.. I overwintered it in a greenhouse during the very cold winter and put it in the ground where it will stay, in early spring here in zone 8b South Louisiana. I am advised it does well here, even though it freezes to the ground most winters, it returns to full form every summer.

 It's a promising specimen, appears true to name, and is one of those plants you'll want where you can see it's deep rich red often. It should reach maturity next summer at I'm thinking 10 feet high and 8 feet wide, as the grove becomes acclimated to its new environment. It is now about 7 feet high and 4 feet wide.

Musa Velutina Banana

Musa Velutina is an ornamemtal banana that has  grown outside my Southwestern Louisiana zone 8b  kitchen window for 15 or 20 years, freezing to the ground most winters and returning to this form every summer. The mature grove is 6 foot high and almost as wide. It loves rainy weather or daily drip irrigation, inexpensive 13-13-13 fertilizer 2 or 3 times a year, temperatures from 57 to 90 degrees F. , but will tolerate more heat. Bananas love full sun early May to end of September, then get sleepy in this climate. Over all a most gratifying plant to grow here.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_velutina

Musa Ruby Red Ornamental Banana

Ornamental Bananas are a joy. Most bloom all summer long, right up until frost. Others are grown for their fantastic leaf color, downright spectacles worthy of conversation.

Though they perform much better in the ground here in South Louisiana, they can be grown in pots in doors or out.

Small in stature, most are under 8 feet tall, half as wide, non invasive, and non edible. The small hand of bananas on this flower ( left ) will turn a ruby red color ( lower right ) in a few days.

Ornamental banana plants are no mess, easily trimmed or cut to the ground after freezing in the fall, which most will do during winters in zone 8b and cooler. They return to near full form  every year from the corm, to make you happy again darling.

Bananas love daily watering, full sun, mulch around base, and fertilizer 2 or 3 times a summer. However, they can do with less when your busy. In the Southeastern U. S. after established, their not fussy and can withstand pure neglect and rebound. I know this see. Huh.

The ornamental banana is a messenger poet. It has such the way with its few words of preciseness, a short recital in a summer's time, a tale of the expert witness of The High Court_  that beauty is complete in its smallest state.

.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_ornata