Striking Mediterranean style for your UK garden! YouGarden TV presenter Shaun Ryan explains why the Architectural Banana Collection is a must-grow…
“We have got a stunning, and I mean really stunning banana collection for you. We’ve called it the Architectural Banana Collection. This is like creating a jungle, a mini jungle in your garden.
“Now, you actually have three really well established plants in the 9cm pots. The first one is the Musa basjoo, this one here, and this is surprisingly hardy in the UK. -6C is not a problem. It’s one of the hardest bananas I know.
“In the middle, you’ve got the Abyssinian Banana, with fabulous red foliage. Now that one will need a bit of protection, so you know, will need protection from about 0C downwards.
“And then finally, another hardy one is this one here, which I know as the Golden Lotus Banana, or the Musella lasiocarpa. And again, that can be hardy to at least -5C.
“Now these grow really quickly, so as long as you keep them well watered and in a nice position, they can start producing leaves that are massive, these huge paddle shaped leaves that can even reach up to 75cm long.
“The Golden Lotus Banana can produce these extraordinary flowers that can last for several months. Now, in the wintertime, as I said, although these are generally speaking on the hardier side, you may wanna fleece them. You may wanna just wrap them up or move them to sheltered corner. But with a little care and attention, you can have the most stunning architectural banana plants in your garden creating that wonderful jungle feel.
“And for me, they are just absolutely breathtaking. So you’ll get all three there. You’ll get the Musa basjoo, you’ll get the Abyssinian Banana, which is the redleaf one, and the one that flowers is the Golden Lotus Banana.”
Hi, I bought your Banana Collection last year and they overwintered in my summer house. They are in big plastic pots and grew really well this summer. They were really impressive. Two of the plants have produced shoots from the base.
Q? Do I leave these or can they be removed and transplanted? if they can when is the best time and how is this done?
Would much appreciate some advice, Thanks in anticipation.
Hi Greg, it’s great to hear how well your Banana Collection has done! Those new shoots appearing from the base are called pups. You certainly can grow them as separate plants.
Carefully detach these from the main plant in spring, and pot them up to grow on. Use a clean knife or spade to slice it away from the main plant, trying to take a small portion of the roots.