4 Seasons of Ensete maurelii in Virginia
 

This is the first winter for my banana. I live in Zone 7A Northern Virginia .
The plant is in a warmer microclimate on the South side of house. It is sheltered from most wind. We had a record cold and snow this winter. I was sure that I would lose the plant. We had quite a few days of temps in the teens. I am not 100% sure but I think it made it through. The base is not mushy and feels like the roots are ok. The picts show all 4 seasons last year. Please check out my galley I have more picts.

Kingfish





SUMMER 2009


FALL 2009


WINTER 2009


SPRING 2010

Re: 4 Seasons of Ensete maurelii in Virginia
 

Great post Looks good,I dont think I will dig mine anymore.

Re: 4 Seasons of Ensete maurelii in Virginia
 

Will your Ensete fruit??

Re: 4 Seasons of Ensete maurelii in Virginia
 

Wow, you should be really proud, thats a zone 9 banana! Im glad it made it for you, that base is HUGE, looks like its already off to a good start. If you can over winter that banana you should try others too. Also did you add any heat to it?

Re: 4 Seasons of Ensete maurelii in Virginia
 

That is a nice looking maurelii. I just got mine last week i hope it turns out as nice as yours did. Ill be digging mine up though, Im in zone 6.

Re: 4 Seasons of Ensete maurelii in Virginia
 

It looks nice, Kingfish. You did just about all you could do for protection unless you literally wanted to build a greenhouse around it. I had one about half that size that I left in the ground here in z8a (had an 8b winter last year, though). I protected with leaves and covered it to keep it dry. It looked like yours in Spring, and I cut it similarly to yours. The outer sheaths were hard and felt healthy, but slowly it died from the inside out. Unfortunately, since it is an Ensete, if it is dead, it is unlikely to pup.

Keep us updated, hope it starts to grow despite my experience.

Re: 4 Seasons of Ensete maurelii in Virginia
 

Thanks for all the comments. I will post later this spring and let everyone know the outcome. It never did develop any pups.

I did not use any heating elements

Kingfish

Re: 4 Seasons of Ensete maurelii in Virginia
 

Well she did not make it. I had hope but it looks like the worst winter in several years did not help any. Maybe I should try a Basjoo. I really do not have any room to store them over the winter. Thanks for all the comments.


Kingfish

Re: 4 Seasons of Ensete maurelii in Virginia
 

Thanks for posting, it was worth a try.... Didn't Pete say last fall he'd replace it if it died? :woohoonaner: