Hardy banana plant

I do usually layer stuff with straw eg bottlebrush but this winter seemed mildish,my basjoo wasnt big enough really to warrant a good packing..i do hope it comes back thou along with spring weather

 

Pete - i have just had a quick look at that plant. It says either bring the pot indoors, or if planted in the ground, dig up and cut off the leaves and store in a cool dry environment. Would it survive in a garage if wrapped up?

 

I've not tried it myself Craig, other than potted.
Some on here are experimenting this year.

My thoughts are it would need to be fairly large before attempting overwintering like that, so maybe first winter in a pot, then planted out the following summer, after which you could try the drying off and wrapping method.

 

Ensete will yes - provided that the garage is frost free, and the plant was big enough by next Autumn (bought now/soon and grown first in a greenhouse / conservatory or perhaps in the house, but the leaves "drip" so are usually unpopular as house plants!), but otherwise as Pete said

Option 2 would be to just buy a new one each year. They grow really fast, particularly if you can start them off around now ... if you wait until they are available in the "Sheds" it will be June or so, and they will only be getting to a decent size as Autumn approaches

This photo was last Autumn from a 1L plant I got last Spring (Ensete maurelli)


Other option for Big leaves is Ricinus (beware poisonous seed particularly) which is an annual and grows like blue-blazes , shrubs you can plant for decent sized leaves include Fatsia - that's very hardy - and Tetrapanax papyrifer 'rex' for massive leaves - that needs its growing point protecting for the winter though.

Then there are trees like Paulownia tomentosa and Catalpa which you can "stool" (cut right down to 6" or so, and only allow a single shoot to grow) and they produce massive leaves and look dramatic.

Second to Musa basjoo I would say. Supposedly Mekong Giant is a hardy variety of Musa sikkimensis ... but I think any of them will need a mild-ish winter coupled with good protection.

 

Must admit to struggling slightly with Sikki, even back in the mild winters, its a nice plant, probably slightly bigger than basjoo I would say.
Only ever got it to flower once, but it was worth it, more impressive than basjoo.

As to Echiums, not had much luck in recent years, the winters are just too cold.

 

Blow me down, I thought Supermarkets put those blue stickers on the fruits ... so they are genetic then are they?

 

Not commonly known, but if you get the right variety the fruit actually forms with a Fyffes sticker already attached.

 

That's definitely F1