Going Bananas

The really great thing about moving south is all of the planting options there are! Moving to zone 7b opened up a huge array of options in the dirt world. I'll start with one of my many new favorites. Banana Trees!!! Banana Trees are amazing for adding that perfect tropical look to your yard. Banana Trees will not grow fruit in zone 7b; however, they do look incredible so who needs the fruit?

Did you know the Banana Tree is really an herb? I'll just enjoy this oddly huge herb and leave the bananas to the monkeys. Banana Trees are indeed tropical so they like lots of water and lots of sun. It's like I am one with this plant, those are two of my favorite things too.

There was a bit of a drought down south this year so I watered at least twice a week with LOTS of water. It worked well for me since I also like being out in the sun. I may have an inappropriate relationship with the sun that I enjoy way more than I should.

When the old leaves die back on the plants, I cut them off and trim them into little pieces around the base of the plant because the leaves feed the plant extra potassium. How cool is that?!?! It literally feeds itself. Best. Herb. Ever.

Aren't those leaves fantastic?!?

With leaves this fun, it's hard not to want to illuminate them.

Last year I watched several YouTube videos on how to "overwinter" Banana Trees in zone 7b because I'm new to all these tropical plants and wanted to keep them alive. I did not like the results. A lot of people said to cut off all the leaves, wrap them in frost sheets and then chop them down in the spring so they grow back from the roots.

The thing is, I want REALLY TALL Banana Trees. I'm trying something different this year. I like to venture out and create my own trails a lot of times. This is one of those times. I am wrapping the stalks of the Trees (herbs) in pool noodles, that's right, those things we play in the pools with.

You can't see it in the next picture but each of the stalks are wrapped in burlap separately. Oh, that's another thing! Banana Trees like to grow in groups, not all single and alone (weirdos). I am also hoping the multiple stalks in the groups will help the plants warm each other this winter. We'll see....

After wrapping each stalk in burlap, over the pool noodles, I wrapped a frost sheet around the group of stalks and stapled it shut.

Look at that beauty, all snuggled in tight. I'm going to leave the leaves alone this year and let them droop over the stalk wrapping them for extra warmth. Also, most importantly, I added a LOT of mulch. Mulch is a great tool for keeping roots warm in cool spells.

Mulch is almost as fun as dirt!!

I'll let you know how they turn out after this "winter" spell we have. I like to experiment and play with plants so we'll see what happens here.

#bananatrees #plants #tropicals #overwintering #herbs #mulching #dirt #garden #frostproof