I’m trying to grow Musa velutina because it’s supposed to flower on first year growths so overwintering the above ground parts wouldn’t be necessary. The fruits are seedy, but the pulp between is alleged to be palatable. Hopefully my seedlings have survived the winter…
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Jason,
Thanks for the banana update and welcome to the group.
Mark
P.S. I assume this means you got my message.
Mt. Vernon Winter Fruit Day this Saturday. Scions and rootstocks available.
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I haven’t tried M. velutina, but I have seedlings of Helen’s hybrid, M. thomsonii, and M. balbisiana, but they all melted to the ground in December. Time will tell whether they sprout new growth. I have others that were in the greenhouse for that freeze but left out for the milder one a few weeks ago, and their leaves are fried but the pseudostems seem alive still:
Those will go in the ground soon probably.
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Those look to be handling the cold pretty well. I was trying to get M. × ‘Hellen’s Hybrid’ and M. thomsonii going too, but could only find them in seed form. I’ve tried germinating banana seeds a number of times now and so far M. velutina are the only ones I’ve ever gotten to sprout (even then it’s a small number compared to how many I planted).
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I had low germination rates as well, with a total of 6 seedlings out of 30 seeds. I documented the germination here:
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I don’t know how much it means to you, but if you are motivated you could probably build a crude enclosure to mitigate the cold. The 8b zone is so close it wouldn’t take much. Citrus is in a similar situation here. I was able to overcome some of the cold by planting against a south facing wall and building a polycarbonate cover that extend off the wall. I only have to drape a tarp around the enclosure on a few nights a year. The rest of the time they are completely exposed to the elements. I have had excellent results with this system. Of course, I only grow the hardiest varieties like yuzu, satsuma, and kumquat. I also have a meyer lemon, but I keep that in a pot and move it the greenhouse for many winter nights.
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Right, this is what drives us!!!
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Banana: RPR is selling a ‘Gran-nain’.
https://www.rareplantresearch.com/musa-gran-nain.html
Their greenhouses will be open for touring in May, invitation only
(per the homepage).
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It’s so frustrating, especially when I go just a few hours south and see how that few degrees makes a huge difference.
changes in latitude, changes in attitude
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Latin name.
mutationes in latitudine, mutat in habitus
If anyone in the Seattle area wants scionwood from @LarryGene’s famous feijoa, he graciously sent me a batch, and I’m sure I’ll have extras once I’m done grafting, so PM me if you can make it to the West Seattle “accidental island” to pick them up.
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…and USPS comes through again. I kept the swincher parcel just under one pound.
That was just 2 days in transit, even with an afternoon ship here. Priority Rate “Shoebox”
holds up to 16-inch long cuttings.
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Wishing you success. Dwarf crabapples would be a nice addition to small town lots. As a root stock, yes, if it would be generally compatible and not require staking.
I finally succeeded in grafting a “road apple” I found in the Sandi Mountains onto a McIntosh seedling about 4 years ago in Albuquerque. It is starting its second year in the ground here in Salem, and I’m hoping for flower buds this year. The wild apple had such a delicious, old-time flavor. I tried unsuccessfully to root cuttings of it. They would callus tremendously, but would not initiate roots.
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Me too!
I do not post in this group much since Vancouver Housing Authority began doing a LOT of odd changes, and tore out my garden and that of others to make everything uniformity and blah. I live north of the city in Hazel Dell.
I will say they failed. Strawberries I had (only a few!) went nuts after they spread the bark of the tree they chopped down as mulch. They sent thousands of runners, and they gave up.I will attempt to include a photo of last winter with all the strawberries.
I would really love to have some heirloom strawberries, since it is something I can grow here. If anybody gets a Marshall and has runners I would love even one.
Also if it uploads I am sharing other things I managed to get away with in the soil or can grow in my now container patio garden. This includes fennel, and the bulbs are about double the size now, pansies, lots of flower bulbs including multifloral grape hyacinths I saved from Watson Avenue 1930s home that was converted to a duplex, lettuce, peas starting to grow, and much more.
Although I grew up on a cattle farm on 159th street in Brush Prairie, my sunny patio is able to give me a little peace and foods in container gardens. I am interested in any other new varieties, ancient varieties, and unusual varieties to grow in planters.
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David, I can’t begin to imagine how devastating it must have been when they ripped out your garden.
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It was indeed the worst feeling. And then last year my mom’s cat, who loved that garden, died of a rare cancer. I gave her a very last stroll while nearly blind around the apartment, where she walked in the grass and licked some dirty water before I put her into my arms on the patio to be lethally injected. That pretty much made me ignore my container garden much of the rest of 2021.
The good news? I can still stay here. I got a full time job in November, can afford rent and such. I had been extremely scared of losing all I had. So I will just keep surviving.
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