Again, the low in my yard was 8F (twice) this winter, so a zone 7b. Knoxville's official low was 13F. We only had one day with a high below freezing, and that was around 29F or 30F. Still, with only a couple of inches of mulch for protection, I was happy to see my Musa 'Royal Purple' return this year. It started sprouting in very early May, right around the first. Here's what it looks like today (admittedly, not much!). I like these pics for "before and after" pictures for later in the season. Only one bloom last year, hopefully I'll get at least two this season. Pics are in my gallery (somewhere) and in the ornamental bananas gallery (I think) of the bloom.
