Bob

Great post and glad to hear all who weighed in. I finally found one advantage of being up here in chilly zone 6 (as of yesterday it hit 2 F so still technichaly zone 7 this year). No need to worry about invasive plants, and if I want to risk an experiment it only costs me the price of the plant. When I buy a banana it is pretty much for, 1) Hardiness or maybe a hardiness experiment is better said ,basjoo , E. Glaucum , sikkimensis Darjeeling Giant. 2) New fruit flavors, Ice cream, manzano, FHIA 23. The problem here of course is what method and to what lenghts am I prepared to go to to ensure survival. This might be the essence of my inspiration to grow bananas at all. 3) Height , yeah I'm prepared to lose these first but it would be cool to overwinter at least once and grow something over say 12 ft and hope for 18, Kandrian, Orinoco,which may have best of all worlds so far. 4) Just for looks, Siam Ruby. Other gardeners' spend a fortune on anuals right? So why not go in with that attitude and consider anything extra a bonus. So yeah it's always smart to carefully consider your purchases but sometimes the whimsical nature or simply the challenge of doing what can't be done is its own reward.

Oh and Jarred , your going to have to quit watching South Park once the new addition gets a bit older...........mmmkay!

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