Hardy fruiting banana with no name
 

I was told by a long-time banana grower about some bananas that his brother, Shawn, were growing near me (USDA zone 9). Shawn has been growing this banana for over three years in his current location 25 miles east of me and they have been reliable bearers with good tasting fruit, though most years the fruit has been late so he has harvested and ripened them indoors. I met Shawn this afternoon and bought five of his pups, including a 2-3 which I'll donate for a charity auction this weekend. He has 15-20 larger plants in his yard right now and one of them has a nice bunch of fruit from a bloom that came early this year in May. Another one bloomed about a month ago and another has a flower emerging right now. The plants reportedly produce good tasting fruits which his brother described as similar to Dwarf Brazilian, though that's not what this banana is. It is a long story which I don't care to get into, but this is an unknown variety and possibly a new mutation. Shawn has one for sale on eBay right now at California Hardy Fruiting Banana Exotic Tree / Plant - eBay (item 290248704127 end time Jul-30-08 17:49:18 PDT) and I've encouraged him to become a member here and put some for sale here. I took my camera with me, planning to take photos, but then was alerted to my stupid mistake with the message "NO CF". Doh! Well, Shawn says he has a flikr album which he will send me the link to later and I'll post that later.

Note: I'm the current high bidder on the eBay auction but, as I've already picked up my bananas in person, please feel free to outbid my $25 bid. He has several more.

Re: Hardy fruiting banana with no name
 

FYI - I really can't say much more about this banana except I realized I neglected to mention its height. I estimate that Shawn's fruiting bananas are about 12 feet high (psuedostem). The two bunches I saw today probably had 80-100 fingers each. He probably had the same lows as me this year, somewhere between 28F and 30F, which is slight warmer than normal, though we had many more days of frost than normal. The bananas received no protection at all. In fact, Shawn doesn't like the ragged look and removes all of the leaves in winter.

Re: Hardy fruiting banana with no name
 

Man they look nice with lots of fruit. I will me interested in knowing what they are. Hopefully someone here will be able to say. These make me think about digging something up to make room but I hate to later find out that I already have these. I wish I was near by. Harveyc thinks for sharing looks as though someone will get lucky.

Re: Hardy fruiting banana with no name
 

Wow really neat banana! Thanks for posting the link. Maybe I'll talk hubby into one more nanner!

Re: Hardy fruiting banana with no name
 

Shawn sent me a link to his flickr album, but many of the photos are already in the eBay auction and I didn't feel like I should post other photos with children in them without his specific permission. I uploaded some of the others, though, including a close-up of a flower. Shawn will take more photos of the current fruits/flowers tomorrow and send them to me.





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Banana Gallery - Shawn's No Name Hardy Banana

Re: Hardy fruiting banana with no name
 

Beautiful plants! Thanks for the pics

Re: Hardy fruiting banana with no name
 

I've seen his sales on ebay before, always thought they looked like ice creams.

Re: Hardy fruiting banana with no name
 

Yeah, he soold two last year and one earlier this week. Before that, he just sold some locally on craigslist and gave some to neighbors. Shawn's brother says he is sure they are not Ice Cream. He has grown many bananas over the past 20 years and says the fruit tastes more like Dwarf Brazilian, but it sure isn't that. FWIW, my Ice Cream died completely in January 2007 with a low of 20F while Dwarf Orinoco and Rajapuri died down to the corm. Shawn reportedly had 18F and his plants did not die, though maybe his swimming pool served as a heat bank.

FYI - the current high bidder is a forum member and another forum member already bid against him. I'm not trying to encourage more bids, there should be plenty more available.

Re: Hardy fruiting banana with no name
 

I'm thinking Micro Climate, and they look like Namwah in color and size.

Re: Hardy fruiting banana with no name
 

Very well could be.

Re: Hardy fruiting banana with no name
 

Thanks Mitchel, that's a good guess. How long has Namwah been here in the U.S.? I think this has been around for a while (I know Shawn did grow it at his prior home but the soil there was bad).

Any chance you want to swap a pup, Mitchel, just to compare?

Jon's site has a description that says that the underside of the midrib is mauve. I don't see that in these photos or in my pups. Do you see that in your Namwah, Mitchel?

I think the pool may provide some limited amount of protection but I don't really know if it is that significant. In January 2007 we had something like 7 days where we got down into the 20s. The topography in the area is very flat and the only bodies of water are swimming pools.

One bit of correction: I mentioned that the seller's brother has been growing bananas for quite a while and gave this banana to Shawn. That should have read brother-in-law. Shawn's brother-in-law also said that there could have been some mix-up when someone did some TC work for him some years ago, but that there is now way to tell what other varieties that person may have been working with for others.

Thanks for the ideas. I'll post more photos when Shawn sends them to me.

Re: Hardy fruiting banana with no name
 

By the way, Nate: You don't happen to grow your Namwah outdoors, do you?

I looked through the membership to see if someone in zone 9 or lower was growing Namwah. I need to update my profile as I killed my potted Namwah this spring by either over-watering it or under-watering it. :(

I've read that Namwah is cold hardy but haven't read any actual testimony to this effect.

Re: Hardy fruiting banana with no name
 

Nope, Don't have a Namwah....yet. HD has em on sale.

Re: Hardy fruiting banana with no name
 

Nate: I misread your profile. I saw Namway listed among the cultivars you're growing but now I see it was a Namwah Pearl.

Re: Hardy fruiting banana with no name
 

Yea, my Pearl croaked along w/everyone elses. LOL!

Re: Hardy fruiting banana with no name
 

FYI - another for sale at California Hardy Fruiting Banana Exotic Tree / Plant - eBay (item 290251007110 end time Aug-08-08 10:25:00 PDT)

Re: Hardy fruiting banana with no name
 

Congratulations to Scot(Chironex) for winning this auction!

Re: Hardy fruiting banana with no name
 

You beat me to that, Chong. I bought five from Shawn and gave the two largest pups to a club I belong to for a charity auction where they fetched $85 and $80, though things get bid up for way more than they are worth due to charity. I still have five myself that are in pots that I will plant out in the next few weeks. It will be interesting to compare their performance to my other bananas and also to Scot. Based on what I saw at Shawn's yard, I'm very optimistic.

Re: Hardy fruiting banana with no name
 

Thanks it's my version of BCD - 'Banana Compulsive Disorder'
I just sign my paychecks over to eBay it seems. Hey, it keeps me out of the bars and casinos, right (althought they may be cheaper in the long run, lol)

Re: Hardy fruiting banana with no name
 

Harvey,
Do you think you might be able to convince Shawn to sell me a pup directly? Or can you spare one of your remaining ones? I am very interested because the fruits do not appear to be of the Orinoco family. They appear to be more of the regular dessert type.

Thanks.
Chong