jack hagenaars

I have grown Musa Basjoo in zone 8 for the last 10years....Generally they will fruit in the late summer months,..so they dont have enough time to fully ripen. I would say they reach about half their maturaty before the first frost here. However,I have had a plant bloom in early May and start growing fruit,again until the first frost. That is the picture I have posted in my pics...that photo I believe was taken on a foggy October day. The last few years we have had cool and wet springs..so the bananas were just growing. In the fall of 2008 one of the mature plants was just about to start sending a flower...you can tell when the centre of the plant begins to bulge and you get a small leaf coming out..just before the flower stock. I think that if you lived in a zone 8 that is drier than ours,then you would have a better chance of fruit...especially if you get a lot of sunny warm summer days. Alas,I am growing Musa basjoo for the large tropical leafs,which I love....the flower and fruit ofcourse is a bonus...I have also used the leaves to make huge stepping stones...they are fabulous...heavy,but fabulous!!!!And the large leaves seem to attract lady bugs...so that too is a bonus for pest management. Hope that helps.....