Like the old song says, "Meet me under the banana tree" -- which can now be in your living room, sun-soaked breakfast nook, patio, or garden! This dwarf Banana is exciting not only for its lovely purple-streaked leaves and rich purple blooms, but for the full-size, yummy fruit it sets every year! Small enough for containers but productive enough to feed a dozen monkeys, this is the "ornamental edible" you MUST grow this season!Reaching just 10 feet tall and about 8 feet wide at maturity, this handsome tree boasts reddish-purple young foliage (that turns shiny green with maturity), large purple blooms on 3-foot stalks, and more bananas than you'd believe possible! Very fast growing and with a pleasing tropical look, it's perfect for a large planter or urn set in full sunshine or your brightest window. Within 3 to 5 years you'll be harvesting huge crops of bananas -- from the tree straight to your cereal bowl every morning!
The flowers are carried above the foliage, like a crown of violet, and will arise at different times of year, depending on the age of the plant. You won't see flowers the first two years, but once it's settled in, the blooms will arise regularly and be followed by big bunches of aromatic, absolutely mouth-watering bananas, only slightly smaller than the supermarket's and infinitely more tasty.
This is a tropical tree, so if you live outside its hardiness range (as most of us do), be sure to bring it indoors before first frost. Very happy in hot, humid climates, it also fares well in bright windows indoors -- just turn it periodically to make sure all sides of the tree receive light, and keep it out of drafts. Growing a Banana Tree is not at all difficult, and the big, paddle-like 3-by-1-foot leaves are showy enough all by themselves, even without blooms and fruit!
Expect this tree to reach 8 feet high within 5 years. If you're planting them outdoors, space the trees 8 feet apart. Zones 9-10 in the garden; everywhere in containers.
