Unless they've got it in unofficial stock, Aloha Tropical doesn't have the musa sikkimensis. However, I saw a drop-dead almost identical pic in "Paradise Found" by Norman Winter of a Musa Sumatrana - a form of Zebrina - and this, they carry! The pic they have on the website was a bit redder which is why I discounted it at first - methinks they used a stock photo, because the pic in the book was muted and looking just like my tree. Coolness - I can put a label on my tree finally. As an aside, even after a year, these people were kind enough to send me a replacement musa rajapuri! Yes, that's a red plumeria from Hawaii. Got a couple. Plus a mess of other tropicals - many varieties of Hawaiian taro, etc, etc... I also have a mystery nanner from my FIL's garden - was growing there when he moved in. It dies back every winter, of course - but comes back every Spring. Mine's in the ground - I'll probably did a keiki and grow it out in the greenhouse and see if I can get it to flower. It's about as nondescript as you can get with a nanner - green. Green everything. We'll see what it produces... Mahalo, Mike

JOereal, you said "In Hawaii, the Williams are planted at a much higher elevation than the cavendishes This really adds to the confusion, they ARE cavendishs! Presumably this means higher than Valery/Robusta or one of the other Cav strains they grow there. I've spoken about this to the banana experts in QLD and NSW state governemnts, and they've both said that all the cav types are essentially the same thing with mutations creating the differences we see. If you've got a Williams that handles cold better than other Cavendish types, then you're on to a winner. It may be a mutation for cold tolerance, if it has been in N Ca for a while. Also of course, your long hot summer helps a lot in keeping bananas alive for a shorter winter, even if quite cold at the time. Paul, you want somethign as short as possible, as bananas tend to grow at least 30% taller under cover than outside because of better growing conditions, and as bananas are naturally taller in colder climates (ie true subtropical) than in warmer ones (ie equatorial/ warm tropical) due to the increased number of leaves they develop in colder sites. Dwarf Cav types have the advantage of short stature and big bunches. Other dwarfs like Orinoco, rajapuri etc are certainly more cold tolerant, but in my opinion inferior as regards taste, and certainly have smaller bunches. Possibly in UK though you might go for these beacuse of their cold tolerance. D. Orinoco is very cold tolerant in California, but also need that Ca. heat to perform. They are not good here in my cooler summers (daytimes usually below 30C). It will depend on just how cold and hot it gets inside your greenhouse.

No, the same pup does not flower each year. I meant the "clump", as each individual stalk dies after it flowers and fruits. I did some extensive research on the net last night and I have determined that I definitely do not have M. basjoo. I looked at one of my really good photos I have of what I thought was basjoo all this time and there is one or two remaining bracts (reddish) along with a very nice hand of well developed fruit. I noticed on some of the pictures of basjoo that I saw on the internet that basjoos bananas are little and dinky like most other seeded forms out there and its bloom is unmistakable yellow. So now I'm wondering if maybe I have M. sikkimensis? When I get time (and can figure out how) I'll post the pic. that I have of what I thought was basjoo and we'll see what everyone thinks. Thanks for all the response I've been getting to this little mystery. I love trying to figure stuff like this out. Maybe I should have been a botanist instead of a hortiulcturist! Nah, that would get too boring!

I was looking for an answer about where to locate my new musa rajapuri purchased today at the Festival of Flowers in Mobile, one of the Festival plant selections they recommend for our zone 8b. The man did not know if it made edible bananas, so I was searching to find out on this forum. I'm figuring that it will make some edible fruits? lac1361 z9a LA (My Page) on Fri, Jul 11, 08 at 8:25 ericjwi, Raja Puri should do well for you in Houston in the ground. Choose a spot with lots of sun and protected from frost; like up against your house with a southern exposure. Steve Based on this information, I'm putting my new guy just outside the kitchen window on the south side of my house. Next to the heat pump condensate drain, should keep it moist.