Banana plant

I'm going to get brave and attempt to keep a plant outside all winter...now......I have to have some help on this! PROTECTION?????? anybody????? Elaine

Is it Basjoo?

I got it at Dykhof's...remember, Liz! E.

I'm drawing a blank. Is it a hardy one or a Zebrina? I can't remember what Dykofs had.

Elaine, I have winter protected my Musa Bajoo outside for the last 3 years. Unfortunately the Musa Lasiocarpa bit the dust. I think it was overcrowded with other stuff. Go to Ray Mattei's site, Tropic to Tropic. He gives good info on overwintering.

Re: Musella overwintering.

I am new to DG and have single Musella planted close to the house with a climbing rose behind it.

I use the same technique for all plants that are outside of my Zone 5a garden. I have Several Zone 8,7 and 6 plants.

In the fall the leaves get raked in to nice fluffffy but not skimpy leaf bags and dumped on the out of Zoners.or marginal in zoners.

This excercise benifits in helping the plant survive winters , but also makes you go out and rake the leaves and while you are doing this a good feeling washes over you because eyou know it's for your garden.

I have been known to go down the street and ask my neighbours if I could havetheir leaves. They always say sure, however it's the look that is on their faces and the conversation that I overhear as I leave that makes me chuckle.. I have actuaslly heard a son say to his father that I must be deranged !!

There is one problem regarding asking your neighbours for leaves and that is , in subsequent years they start bringing their leaves to you and leaving bags on your driveway.

llliya we've done that too-but not for those plants.
We had so many orange bags dropped off that it looked
like there was a big orange school bus sitting on our
front lawn.

Illiya, Welcome to this forum. Nice to meet you. :)

Lucky for me I live on a ravine and my neighbours have a woodlot of elms in their yard which I curse every part of the year but now. Have you read the Vinyl Cafe account of the Torontonian who grew figs from his native Italy and his technique for wintering a fig tree? Highly amusing; I recommend it.

I'm with lliya,I use a wire hoop,any will do,I have the 4in. square wire,like used on farms.the hoop is 4ft around and 4ft tall,I cut the Nana back to 2 or 3 ft,then go beg leaves off the neighbors,they seem to give them up quite easy,LOL!uncover after last frost and water good,hope this helps.

Liz.....the banana is a Zebrina! now I have a Basjoo, in a five gallon pot...where will I put him?// greenhouse or outside? lay off the fertilizer for now?? Elaine's ramblin' from roses into nanas!

It's a slippery slope for you now Elaine. How big is your basjoo? Do you think you can get it rooted before it gets icky out and you have to bind him up?? If not, I'd bring him into the gh and then plant him in the spring. I've been scrounging bubblewrap and burlap for mine.