Banana Plant

One of my neighbors has a large banana plant growing in their yard, this made me want to learn more about them, as I know very little about this plant.

I found out it is considered the largest herbaceous flowering plant. It's technically in the genus Musa, and is both an herb and a fruit. Ginger, and Bird of Paradise flowers are its distance relatives.  They grow from a rhizome, not a trunk like a tree has.

Depending on the variety (which I do not know about this one), they can grow to be at least 12 feet tall.  I think my neighbors is taller than that. It is towering over our 9 foot fence. They also need 4-6 inches of water a month, so maybe our winter rains helped with that and need fertilizer 4-6 times a year.

I am not sure if the plant I see has been fertilized, but it looks healthy and has been there for about 10 years getting taller every year. I do know when the large leaf blades die they come crashing down into my yard and can mash any tender plant in their way.

Because the large two purple blossoms face my yard, I am not sure the neighbors know there are bananas on the plant growing from the back of the flowers. They are fairly new neighbors and did not plant this plant in the back corner of the yard.

But I am enjoying watching the small bananas to see how large they may get.

photos by Betty Victor

Banana Plant #2 (2)

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