"you can buy great bananas in any market cheaply. You KNOW the whole idea is the fantastic foliage.Who wouldn't want to grow one?" I think that is highly debateable. People grow different plants for different reasons and one of the big attractors IMO for many people to grow bananas is not only the joy of producing their own bananas but the belief that not only may this allow them access to cultivars which are not in your average grocery store but also that the same bananas home-grown would taste better. I don't know about you but the only bananas at my grocery store are Cavendish unless I want to visit an Asian market. I personally have never seen Ice Cream or any of the other popular fruiting varieties for sale at VONS where I live. Laurence

Scott, I grow ornamental bananas down here in Melbourne as we dont have any restrictions and my wife has been driving me crazy trying to locate the illusive Musella lasiocarpa "Chinese Yellow Flowering Banana". If you happen to notice one for sale and its not to much trouble could you please pick one up and send it down to me. I am more than happy to pay up front for plant,postage/handling and any inconvenience's. I tried to locate a supplier of "AeAe" a couple of years ago but kept running into dead ends. Since then I have learnt it is a fussy plant to grow and would struggle down here. It would grow well in your climate though. My Musa coccinea is about to flower for the first time and I will post pics on the gallery when it does. If you dont have any luck finding "AeAe" have you considered the other variegated banana Musa "zebrina" with nice maroon variegation and undersides of leaves. Best of luck, Louis.

Hi Rick I know this is an old thread but I've facebooked messaged Dino a few days ago and haven't heard anything back yet, his Facebook looks like he hasn't been on it in a while..so you maybe you might know another way to get ahold of him? Or you can even give him my email.. sarasgreenthumb@gmail.com, I hope he's still selling those gorgeous trees I've been seeing all over this thread lol including your beauty's.. how they looking btw? P.s id like to buy a FEW big guys from him CUZ lol I'm addicted and admitting it ;)...Thanks for even reading this as I know I must be a bug with all the questions I ask you and going through all the old threads lol, thanks for the abundance of knowledge Rick. Sara

Kaspar, if you're still looking in....just to give my tuppence worth, or 2 cents for the locals.... ...to be perfectly frank, the appearance of the wall with it's broken fencing and tatty exterior generally in the background, bins and other debris lying around... doesn't warrant anything too exotic in my opinion, even though your climate supports it... unless you have ambitions to upgrade the site... ...I would keep it simple and plant a hedge of Euonymus japonica 'ovatus aureus' along that wall, for a bright variegated effect, if you don't mind that... alternatively the plain dark green version with an occasional variegated plant thrown in... ...you have some useful wire netting fence behind, on which I would grow an easy Clematis viticella 'Etoile Violette'... which would cover that fence by mid summer and contrast with the hedge to startle all passers by... but without being too fussy... it flowers June-Sept and pruning is simple, cut to the ground in February... ....to go a bit further and if you want to startle and amaze, then Clematis 'Bill Mackenzie', another easy pruner, would cover that fence and half way up your tree I should think...but I would use the dark green hedge for this... Alternative hedging suggestions that appeal to me would be Rosemary 'Miss Jessups Upright' or Lavender intermedia 'Grosso'... ...none of these would object to your conditions... ...put some soil into those gaps in the wall and you could grow some attractive Cornish wall plants like Lampranthus, Aubrietia or Alyssum etc... to cascade down... ...at least cover that white pipe to the left there... happy choosing....