I brought these in for the winter, pruned them, and a few new leaves sprouted. Then, buds started to form and they went into full bloom. I watered them a couple of times each week and yesterday I looked closely and noticed they were completely covered with aphids...blossoms and leaves. I couldn't believe it. After spraying them with an indoor/outdoor rose and flower spray there were hundreds of aphids surrounding the pot. The flowers were full of holes and I decided the easiest thing would be to just start over. Plants and soil are in the compost container and the pot is in the trash container ready for pick-up next week.

To overwinter. Cut pups along with mom when the threat of frost begins. When the temp drops to 50F, the banana will stop growing. This is a good time to stop watering as well. Cut pups about 2 inches from ground, mom about 6 inches from ground. The entire surface should be covered with chopped leaves, about a 2 foot pile, gently patted down around the base of the plant and pups. Plastics, mulch,straw,wood,vinyl,grass clippings,newspaper should not be used as this causes rot and other problems down the road. Pups can be separated in the spring. Gently brush away dirt from banana, around pups. Find mothers corm, attached will be pup, gently cut a tiny portion of moms corm that is attached to pup you desire to remove. Dig down about 10 inches The pup will live on the small piece of moms corm. Dig deep hole twice as wide as pup. Fill hole with very rich manure soil, they sell it at Lowe's, $2 a bag. Put pup in hole just a inch above ground level. The bigger the hole, the better your chances of proper drain and better growth. Mulch heavy, keep stalk clear of mulch. If you can build a hot box a foot above ground level, banana's love them. The pups should be shaded from the sun until you see growth. Water good, do not fertilize until you see growth. When you see growth on the pup, use a light application of fertilizer until you see strong growth. When you see strong growth, you can resume regular feeding. Also, two kinds of pups, Water, Sword pups. Water pups have fat leaves, hard to transplant. Sword Pups have sword like leaves,slender, easier to transplant. You will notice a difference by looking at the leaves. Pups should be at least one foot tall before removing from mom. On a side note, pups really don't need to be removed unless you want the room or you simply want to expand your banana empire. In my case, I let them hang out with mom, soon they get huge and you have a huge banana fortress.

Hi. I'm in zone 5a and I have 2 banana plants - different varieties. I also have a sun-room but before it gets cold, I just bring them directly indoors. For me, in late September, I take them inside along with all my palms, my grapefruit tree, my pineapple plants, papaya tree, passion fruit vine, prickly pear cactus, bird of paradise, aloe and yucca plants. I have plant lights that are on timers and go one during the day and off at night. My grapefruit requires a heating pad but the rest including the banana plants just need the light. They suffer a little bit, but they stay alive until early June when I bring them outdoors again. One word of caution: When you bring them outside in the spring, they will get SUNBURNED just like you would if you went out in the sun all day after being inside all winter. All the leaves will turn brown and fall off, but it generally won't kill the plant. New ones will begin to grow. So it is best to start them in a shady area for a few weeks to acclimate them. However, I have a neighbor who's banana trees grow to about 10 feet every year! They swear by cutting the plant down all the way to the stalk, and keeping it in a dark cellar and just watering it all winter. They say they basically hibernate. In the spring they cut off any new leaves that may have grown and fertilize it well. I just don't have the heart to cut mine down. I'm afraid I will kill it! The pups can be carefully separated as they get bigger. I just let mine grow where they are. The pineapple plants are the EASIEST thing to grow. Just plant the crown from a pineapple in the dirt. They are quite hardy. I have one that is 4 ft tall now. The growing lights work well for them. One of mine actually grew a pineapple one winter and since then several pups have grown. PS: with all my plants I have 20 grow lights. My electric bill could be better.

This is a great thread and it is one I have been following earnestly since it began. Here is what is still blooming in my garden as of August 13, in no particular order: Lycoris chinensis Patrinia scabiosifolia Verbena bonariensis Echinacea 'PowWow Wild Berry' Calamintha nepetoides Allium 'Millenium' Allium 'Summer Beauty' Allium nutans 'Pam Harper' Agastache 'Blue Blazes' Agastache 'Blue Fortune' Agastache 'Golden Jubilee' Agastache 'Purple Haze' Hibiscus 'Summer Storm' Hibiscus 'Plum Crazy' Lilium speciosum album Lilium speciosum rubrum Phlox 'David' Phlox 'Old Cellarhole' Phlox 'Jeana' Phlox 'Caspian' Phlox 'Peppermint Twist' Phlox 'Mile High Pink' Helenium 'Mardi Gras' Geranium 'Rozanne' Geranium wlassovianum Rosa 'Quietness' Rosa 'Jude the Obscure' Rosa 'Rose de Rescht' Silphium perfoliatum Gladiolus 'Carolina Primrose' Gladiolus 'Bolivian Peach' Gladiolus 'Boone' Thalictrum 'Splendide' Thalictrum 'Hewitt's Double' Perovskia 'Blue Spires' Eupatorium 'Little Red' Nepeta 'Joanna Reed' Geranium 'A.T. Johnson' Knautia macedonica Solidago 'Little Lemon' Salvia 'Black and Blue' Geranium 'Blue Sunrise' Scabiosa ochroleuca Angelica gigas I have included plants in the above list whether they are in full bloom or have just a smattering of blossoms. We finally have pleasant temperatures and rain in my neck of the woods, and I think I can hear my garden sighing in relief. Here is a list of plants I have that still have not bloomed and/or are currently forming buds: Various sedums Helianthus 'Lemon Queen' Solidago 'Fireworks' Various asters Various Korean mums Aconitum 'Barker's Variety' Anemone 'Honorine Jobert' Artemisia lactiflora 'Guizhou' Various colchicums Various autumn crocus Helianthus 'First Light' Salvia azurea 'Nekan' Allium 'Sugar Melt' Allium tuberosum Allium thunbergii 'Ozawa' Allium thunbergii 'White Form' Scilla autumnalis Lycoris squamigera For the past couple of weeks, I have been putting in as many late blooming hardy chrysanthemums and asters as I can find and afford. Without a doubt, gardening will become more challenging in coming years due to climate change. Included below is a photo of the stunning Lycoris chinensis: