We’ve had our banana tree as an indoor house plant for about 5 years now. We were hoping for bananas when we first got it, but eventually became resigned to the idea that it would just be a fun novelty to watch the humongous leaves unfurl every now and then. Well, about two months ago the tree began to flower, so we were waiting in anticipation for bananas.
Banana Tree w/ flower
Close up of the early flower
The tree got really top heavy and actually fell over, so we had to tie it up to the curtain rod with a string just for it to stay up. In the mean time, 3 little baby banana trees started to pop up beneath it. A banana tree, and other tropical plants are kind of like the mythical creature the Hydra that grows back stronger when you cut it down. However, we weren’t ready to cut it down, until the other day when we were getting all set up for Thanksgiving and we started to move the banana tree. We forgot that it was attached to the curtain rod and so it got pulled and finally toppled over. We had to cut it down once and for all, but now we have three new ones to take its place, so it’s all good. Still no bananas though…we’ll probably have to wait till Puerto Rico for that.
When you get here you will have plenty of bananas and there are different kinds! My favorite are the “manzana” kinds that taste kind of like apples. We bought an ornamental fuzzy pink banana I am dying to see fruit – you can eat it but it is very seedy – mainly I just think pink and fuzzy is cool! You can eat banana blossoms as well but I haven’t tried cooking it yet. Ah, maybe this next batch! We had bananas outdoors in Washington State and every fall when it turned black after the first frost I cut it down to around 5 feet, put chicken wire around the base and tossed a couple of bales of straw around it for the winter. We had a whole grove of bananas – they would pop into life around June and last until October. No ripe bananas though.
Wow, those different banana types sound crazy and cool. I love all the plant life out there in the tropics. That’s one of my favorite things to look forward to. I wonder what the banana blossoms taste like. Sounds strange. Maybe like artichokes? That’s kind of what they look like anyway. That’s neat that you were able to grow bananas in Washington. I think up there it is a little warmer than Colorado. Our hardiness scale on the USDA map is only like a 5 or 6 and in some areas like the mountains even colder, so I don’t think the banana tree would last outside even with mounds of mulch. Oh well, se la vie.
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