The Berkeley Botanical Garden is well worth a trip and is closer to s.f. than the sjheritage rose garden. Be sure to get a map at the front gate because the garden covers several acres. Berkeley Botanical garden has an Old Rose Garden which is found by walking from the book shop past the african plant section and then stay on the paved path to the left of the pond and keep going uphill til you come to the sign that says Old Rose Garden, in June the Alba and Gallica roses are in bloom, they have c. a dozen Old Garden Teas, Mrs. B.R. Cant, Rainbow, the Noisette "Nastarana", several H.P.s, and " Portland from Glendora" and Polyanthas, and a lovely arbor planted with Lamarque and Reve d'Or, as well as an area planted with Hybrid Musk roses and early Hybrid Teas. I love it because the rosebushes are under-planted with masses of brightly colorful flowers. The Berkeley botanical garden also has dozens of wild roses, many of these are from Asia, Rosa helenae, R. roxburghii and several of these are in the Chinese and European herbal medicinal garden where the Apothecary Rose abides near the sun dial, and nearby it grows R. arvensis, climbing on a pole, also a June bloomer. up the slope are R. chinensis R. rugosa nearly always in bloom when I visit them. and on the perimeter on the path way back to the main gate on the right side are Rosa odorata and Rosa moyessi on the way back to the entry gate , look on the left side of the wooden bridge to see masses of Rosa california, blooming, and several yards up further on the paved wide path, on the right side, on a slope is the rarely seen Rosa minutifolia near Rosa omniensis if you head back from the medicinal garden, walking on the lawn, you'll come to The Japanese garden, which is a real treat on a hot day as the trail to it goes through a leafy rhododendron glade, before you come to a creek and a pond. No roses, but it is very pretty. Luxrosa

When you dig up your little bananas and repot them, they probably won't have made much root growth yet, so they won't need too much dug up around them. Whatever size pot they were in when you planted them, dig just a few inches outside that area. You'll end up with a good rootball that you can repot. Put it in a good well draining potting soil like Promix. Water them in well, then let them dry out before you water them again. Keep them on the dry side all winter, then put them out in the spring. I have a little guide on e-bay called "how to grow bananas in cold areas successfully" if you want to look it up, here's a link. By the way, I'm not advertising, this is for information only! Here is a link that might be useful: how to grow bananas in cold areas successfully

HoosierDoc thats an interesting idea! I cage my p-stems here and I never thought to check the differences between inside and outside temps. Perhaps the original link expired but I can't see your pictures now. I have to share my method for covering my stems. Let the frosts kill the leaves, remove them, build an 8' wire cage around entire clump(which is sometimes 5 stems), fill to top with pine straw, done! I have covered basjoo stems this way every winter since 2000 and not once have I lost any stem to rot or disease. I don't cover the sides or top either, just open air all the way. Of course the winters here are never overly cold, so it does not take a whole lot of work to protect them. The lowest temp I've had since my plants went in, was 9F back in 2003. During that winter, even with protection I lost about 4' of stem to the cold. Except for the following the spring that year, every spring since, I have started the season with 8' p-stems! I have two mats of basjoo in different locations and both had 3 inflorescences this year! It is exciting after you take the straw down to see leaves sprouting atop those tall stems! I have a picture of one of my "towers of straw" from last year..... Here is a link that might be useful:

When the banana fruits grows up, it helps to cut the heart, so the fruits will grow bigger, more plump too. once the fruit begins to ripen cut down the whole stalk , and there should be another that will grow and bear fruit. The Banana heart is also a nutritious food, like Vegetable that can be cooked into a lot of different recipes. One of my favorite. Look for recipe's in Filipino style food with Banana heart.