Question about Cold hardiness of ornamental banana plants in zone 9.
 

Dear members,
New year I will be move from Thames which is in zone 10a, to Christchurch (New Zealand), which is in zone 9a, with average minimum air temperature -4 oC below freezing point, but it can go down to -6 oC few nights on July. Thames have 15 ground frosts per year. Christchurch have ground 80 frosts per year.

I had musa velutina, musa ornata, musa mannii, musa coccinea and musa violacea and hybrid musa mannii X musa aurantiaca had grew well and successfully survived the winters in Thames, for 18 past years.


Question:
Can musa mannii, musa siamensis, musa ornata, musa velutina, musa aurantiaca, musa coccinea and musa violacea survive growing outdoor in zone 9a all the whole year in Christchurch ???

Re: Question about Cold hardiness of ornamental banana plants in zone 9.
 

You will hard pressed to grow your plant list out doors year round...
Protecting your plants from the occasional freezing temps will be your key issue.
Mine are in containers and can be moved indoors when it gets cold

But you never know till you try pushing your new zone.
Hopefully some zone 9 growers will chime in with tips.

Good luck with your new garden.

Re: Question about Cold hardiness of ornamental banana plants in zone 9.
 

Im a 9a grower, but we dont have anywhere near 80 frosts a year.. we probably have 15 or less on average. I have namwah, cavendish, blue java, raja puri, pisang keling, pisang klotek, viente cohol, and dwarf red all in the ground outside. I have the pstems covered with plastic, and that appears to be sufficient. Many of the leaves are burned or partially browned for the 3 or so frosts we've had so far. In my area, it appears protecting the pstem is all that is really needed to keep in the ground. Hope that helps