Today I drove down to get a few pictures and info on the bananas that I came across. It turned out to be closer to an hour than the 40 minutes I originally estimated. This town is located in USDA Zone 8b.
I met the owner, Castro, and he is a super nice guy. He planted the bananas there a couple years ago when he redid the landscaping in front of his shop. He took pups from a mat at his home. He confirmed that they are what the locals call the Burro Banana (Orinoco) and they taste good right off the stalk. He said many people stop by to take pictures and compliment him on the plants. He is very proud of his bananas and loves to talk about them. He is an org member waiting to happen. Castro now has 93 plants, all Orinoco, including the ones at home.
We talked about this last winter and he didn't remember it getting as cold as the National Weather Service reported. He stated that since it doesn't go below freezing very often he doesn't wrap or do anything special for the winter. He did say that this winter the leaves died back and he cut the tops to take them off.
It turns out that the bananas that were flowering at 5' were pups planted last summer. They were taken from his older mats of Orinoco that flower at about 7'. He said they have produced for him every year. There were buds, flowers and bananas all over.
He was more than happy to let me take pictures. Of course I left the battery to my Sony in the charger at home.
Good thing I have a camera on my phone. I will post a few on this thread. if your interested I will post more in my gallery.
He picked out a nice sword pup for me, but unfortunately most of the roots were under the concrete and it came out with one little root. Hopefully it will make it.
Castro had a couple customers come by before I had time to tell him about the Org, but I plan on going back down in a couple weeks with an Ice Cream and a Saba to thank him for his hospitality.