Musella lasiocarpa

Hello All.

This is NOT my picture - I copied it from a website.

I recently came across this plant for sale on a website. Here is the description they provide:

This legendary rarity was the most sought banana ever. Collected in China, it originally sold for hundreds of dollars but is now being produced from tissue culture. A beautiful species, it grows only 3 to 4 feet of very thick trunk and produces an absolutely stunning, giant, brilliant-yellow flower that dominates the plant and can last for months, even until its suckers come into bloom. It will grow and flower in a container or in the ground and does not run. Very cold hardy, down to the teens.

Has anyone every grown this? Is it really as cool as it sounds? Any feedback would be sincerely appreciated.

Erick

There are a lot of people growing it here, and several recent threads on it. It does seem to be fairly cold hardy. It's not really a true banana and has a different form (squat, pyramidal stalk, more paddle-like leaves, completely differentt flower). It usually costs the same as other bananas and is not difficult to get a hold of.

Here's the most recent, it is such a bright stand out color!
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/608469/

Wow. Thank you both. I should have done some more digging in the tropicals forum.

Erick

Hi everyone....I lurk around here sometimes! Ya know...someone has to keep Sidney & Hap in order!

Erick...here is another thread about it. http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/603045/ I have a pic in there of one we had in a pot. Last year it was 2 years old and flowered in August. We moved the pot inside over the winter and the bloom is still there today. It's just not looking pretty rough and needs to be cut off. And you will have many pups. I love it.....and it's extremely easy!

Edited because I've lost my mind! For some reason I thought I was on the Florida Gardening Forum! LOL

This message was edited Jun 7, 2006 3:26 PM