Musa x paradisiaca
Ornamental banana
Musaceae
Perennials, Decorative fruit or berries
MUSAFor information on fruiting types, see Banana. The ornamental bananas described here include tree-size, medium-size, and dwarf plants. All are fast growing; all have soft, thickish stems and spread by suckers or underground roots to form clumps that are often as wide as or wider than the plant is tall.
Spectacular-looking long, typically broad leaves are easily tattered by strong winds, so choose protected planting sites. Will usually regrow from roots if cut down by frost; in frost-prone areas, locate plants where their absence won’t be conspicuous. Attractive near swimming pools. Can be grown in tubs and wintered indoors (cut tops off tall plants). Give rich soil; feed heavily.
Musa x paradisiacaThis is the most common form of the ornamental bananas. Makes a clump to 20 ft. tall and half as wide. Leaves to 9 ft. long. Flower stalks are pendent, bearing large, showy, powdery purple bracts; fruit (usually seedy and inedible) sometimes follows.
Musa x paradisiaca
This is the most common form of the ornamental bananas. Makes a clump to 20 ft. tall and half as wide....
Sabal mexicana
Native from Texas to Guatemala. Grows 30 to 50 ft. tall, 12 ft. wide, has bright green, 3-foot leaves....
Sabal
Slow-growing fan palms; some have trunks, some do not. Mature plants bear large clusters of tiny flowe...
Find Your Sunset Climate Zone
Advertisement
