JoeReal

I have basjoo and California Gold growing in pots and left them outside for the winter about three years ago. Potted plants are more susceptible to cold than when planted inground. Musa Basjoo died to the ground level and never came back while California Gold's stem remained intact and was among the first ones to sprout leaves during the late winter. Non-scientific tests. I bought about 85 known cultivars of bananas, spent around $2000 to collect them all, and when my wife booted me out of the third car garage, I left them all out in the cold winter, still potted. Only 24 plants survived that single non-replicated episode of non-scientific experiment. So without much ado, here's the result of my $2,000.00 worth of information:

Here's the listing of cold hardy bananas at their pseudostem during the winter. Arranged from the most reliable producer or cold hardiest to the milder ones, but all should be cold hardy at their pseudostems in most winters in zone 9. WARNING: Your mileage could vary depending on your microclimate arrangement in your yard.

•California Gold
•Thousand Fingers
•Monkey Fingers
•Orinoco
•Brazilian
•Golden Rhinohorn
•Dwarf Orinoco
•Dwarf Brazilian
•Misi Luki
•Mysore
•Namwah
•Rajah Puri (best tasting but often chokes)

•Manzano
•Ice Cream
•Gold Finger
•Dwarf Namwah
•Sweetheart (FHIA 3, best tasting cavendish, cold hadiest among the cavendish types)
•Namwah Pearl
•Praying Hands
•Saba
•Cardaba
•Williams
•Belle
•Valery