AllenF

Welcome to the forum Ben.. Finally another nut from Zone 3.

I am still relatively new here, growing Palms for 2 years and bananas for 1 year. I planted out 2 palms last summer and built a heated winter shelter for them. They are doing okay so far and have survived outside temps of -24.6*C/-12*F.

I plan to plant bananas outside next spring and shelter them outside next winter.

That may be too expensive for your priorities. I can provide some advice to help you accomplish what you want.

Your extra room may be a great find for keeping things growing in the winter. Hopefully you can use the sun to heat it a little more. Either put several thermometers in the room right away so that you can record the low temperatures at various spots in the room, or buy a remote thermometer set up with 3 sensors. I would suggest floor and ceiling level of the most exposed wall; and floor and ceiling level of the least exposed wall. Knowing how cold it gets through this winter will help you with determining how much, if any, extra heat you need. It will also help you decide if you can winter Ice Cream and other Bananas.

Suggestions:
Musa Basjoo- It is a plain banana that is supposed to grow to 15' in Vancouver. If it gets to 8' in z 3 we will be lucky. It loses it's leaves below 0*F but should survive at 40*F with leaves intact.

Musa Dwarf Cavendish- it is the 'tropical plant' banana that you can buy at Walmart and Home Depot. It is cheap to experiment with. Mine had frost damage at 31*F and lost almost all of it's leaves at 30*F. It is supposed to grow to about 8'. After 1 summer my largest one was 3'.

Yucca elephantipes- also labeled Cane Yucca at Walmart and Home Depot. Mine survived 23*F without any damage. You can buy them anywhere from 2' tall to 6' tall. They grow slowly compared to bananas.

Livistona chinensis- also called Chinese Fan Palm. Should survive 30*F. Easily damaged by wind. Usually trunkless with about 4' of fronds when you buy them at Home Depot or Walmart. I have 2 in an experiment this winter. I have insulated them against sudden and short freezes and left them outside unheated. Their fronds are frozen and I am hoping that they will regrow from their roots.

Cycas revoluta--also called King Sago Palm- Can be found at Walmart and Home Depot on occasion. Very small but unusual looking. Has survived 23*F without damage.

If you are interested in Palm trees, I would suggest that you join Palmsnorth.com. You will be the only person from Minnesota there but most members are zones 5 to 7. They come from Ontario, Illinois, Pennsylvania Kansas etc. as well as western Canada.

There are several members of Palms North that grow oranges. You may be able to do that as well. I am going to start Gardenias in the palm shelter this coming spring. You may be able to winter gardenias and rhododendrons in your room if you want.

That room may be a wonderful greenhouse if you can keep the temperatures above 35*F.

Allen

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You don't have to be crazy to grow Bananas in Alberta, but it helps