Ensete gilletii in the UT Gardens
 

There aren't many pictures on the internet of this banana, so I took a few today of the one I donated to the UT Gardens this spring. It was about a foot tall when planted out in April. It has been suggested by some that it is closely related to E. ventricosum, maybe even a variety of it. I just don't see it though! It looks more like E. glaucum or E. perrieri even, than E. ventricosum. This was grown from seed obtained from Rarepalmseeds.com last year. I lost 3/4 of the plants that I started from seed from fungal problems. The few that survived have horrible fungal problems on the leaves when small. This one was no exception, and just looked awful after a month in the ground. Thankfully, it seemed to grow out of it, and looks great now! Could this be the biggest one in the US?

Re: Ensete gilletii in the UT Gardens
 

Impressive ;)
:woohoonaner:

Re: Ensete gilletii in the UT Gardens
 

looking good Frank

are you going to try 'the chop' on one to see if you can propagate it?

Re: Enset gilletii in the UT Gardens
 

I'm impressed too wow frank that looks like the biggest one I've ever seen what are they feeding it LOL now i want one of those you know I'm an Enset Nut you posted this just to tempt me didn't you!!!!!

Re: Ensete gilletii in the UT Gardens
 

Thanks!

No, I'm not going to chop one. Apparently that has been done already, with no success.

Frank

Re: Ensete gilletii in the UT Gardens
 

Wow! that Ensete is Huge.. are they normally that tall?

Re: Ensete gilletii in the UT Gardens
 

No, Alex, they are usually taller! This one is still fairly young. Next year should be a great year for it.

Frank

Re: Ensete gilletii in the UT Gardens
 

Thanks for posting the photos of it. It looks even bigger in person, folks. The base of it is just huge!

Re: Ensete gilletii in the UT Gardens
 

Magnificent! Thanks for sharing!
Kind regards,
Remko.

Re: Ensete gilletii in the UT Gardens
 

Very nice! I wouldn't doubt that this is the largest one in the US. That's a pretty rare variety, for sure. And I'm with Paulo on this....stop tempting me! I am an Ensete lover as well!

Re: Ensete gilletii in the UT Gardens
 

Simply Awesome!
I want to know what you're feeding it also! :) ~Cheryl

Re: Ensete gilletii in the UT Gardens
 

Please tell us how you store it over the winter!

Re: Ensete gilletii in the UT Gardens
 

I'll be storing this one in the greenhouse for the winter, along with the much larger Ensete superbum (that's the one with the really big base!). One of the greenhouses is kept at cooler temps than the others, but not quit cold-frame temps. This is where they stored the E. superbum and E. 'Maurelii', along with several other bananas, last winter.

1aday, you must be thinking of the huge E. superbum when you talk of the huge base! It is over 2 feet in diameter.

E. superbum:

Re: Ensete gilletii in the UT Gardens
 

Oh no, now I have to get one! So pretty! Such a great character to it as well!
:woohoonaner:

Re: Ensete gilletii in the UT Gardens
 

Nice! Looking forward to seeing it in 2010!

Re: Ensete gilletii in the UT Gardens
 

Ah, Bigdog, maybe I am. I got the two confused. Either way, all the Ensete were awesome.

Re: Ensete gilletii in the UT Gardens
 

Are you going to be there when they dig them up and move them in? I'd like to see photos of that!

Re: Ensete gilletii in the UT Gardens
 

I probably will be there to help dig them up. If I can remember, I'll bring my camera and take some pictures!

Frank

Re: Ensete gilletii in the UT Gardens
 

Is it possible you took pics of the seeds of the Gilletii or are they too variable to try and compare?

Re: Ensete gilletii in the UT Gardens
 

Yes I make pics in the evening today,

i have 2 plants germinated a year ago :)

But i can a perierri are the mine..

here are the pics from my plants today:



Regards,

Gilian