Ensete Species, Wild Banana, Red Abyssinian Banana, False Banana, Ethiopian Banana

Abyssinians love the Kansas summer! I have grown two trees for a few years and they are currently about 10 feet tall in 26" pots. The ...Read Morepots seem to keep the plants limited in their vertical growth, which is a blessing since those pots are HEAVY. Although they take some chilly weather, anything below mid-40's and the leaves wilt and turn to mush. Since I don't have a greenhouse, I have to move my plants inside in fall and outside in spring. (My husband complains every spring and fall about how he hates moving my banana trees, but he does admit they look fabulous on our patio) The weather in Kansas often involves wind, which can be unkind to banana trees. Thus, I keep the plants on pot dollies so that I can move them closer to the protection of the house when weather fronts move in. As long as I keep them watered, the plants seem to thrive in the blistering summer heat, rewarding me with deep burgundy and olive green foliage. Until this year, I have been lucky not to have been plagued with any banana pests. However, this year, after bringing the plants in, they developed a ravaging aphid infestation. Hopefully, I can save them, but only time will tell.

Excellent landscape banana for the gulf coast....excellent cold tolerance in zone 8....mine comes back more beautiful every year here on ...Read Morethe Alabama gulf coast...(green leaf / red stripe varitey)
Can be grown from seed...seed germination time is very long....planted seeds in pot in full sun...spring of 2010...1 germinated and quickly died....left seeds in pot indoors over winter of 2010/2011....moved back out to sunny greenhouse in march of 2011.....april of 2011...8 seeds have germinated and growing strong in greenhouse shelter..expect more to germinate soon

I purchased my Ensete online from "Stokes Tropical" in Jeanerette, LA. I have had mine in the ground for about 2 years. It is planted i...Read Moren full sun with no over head protection. At the start of this year we had 2 back to back nights with 21oF which killed the leaves but this spring it rebounded and has several large leaves. It gets fertilized with black kow and fish emulsion and also receives additional water via a drip irrigation. This is as other have stated a very thirsty plant and can occupy a large area when full grown. I like this plant as unlike other 'bananas' it does not sucker. It provides a lush tropical look to any yard. Unfortunately it is not readily available at a lot of garden centers, but seeds and plants are available online. If you have a wet area in your yard which receives full sun then an Ensete is worth a try, even in zone 8.

Iv Had Vary Good luck with this Plant i Have 9 of them grown from seed. after reading the other comments id like to make a couple my sel...Read Moref. this plant is native to Ethiopia and is the primary food starch sores in that region and as such dose not tolerate high humidity. its highly drought resistant for a Banana. takes approximately 5 years to mature. can be divided from the corm. often in as many as 100 devisions. they are wind resistant the leafs will shred in high winds this is normal and actually beneficial to the plant reliving stress on the main stem as for the comment about a Small root system this is inaccurate the roots souled take up 10Ft or more and grow to a depth of 5 ft. they do need staking if they are vary tall. they do need to be kept damp but with thees Banana having one of the largest corms known they can tolerate drought but will slow the plants development. there mature hight is over 20 ft and they do need lots of room. you can under plant as long as you are using species that can tolerate lots of water. they are thirsty plants. iv found them to be quite magnificent and stately lending and air of permanence to the tropical garden. I'm in zone 9 heat index 11 this is vary arid and hot. they will get a bit Crispy in the summer but come back nicely in the fall. although they prefer full sun if you live in a desert environment i suggest and east facing wall were they only get sun until 12 or 1 pm. for any one trying to grow Bananas and needing advice try Bananas.org Every thing you ever wanted to know about Bananas and probably more then you really want to know