Bananas
From TejasTropicals Articles
Bananas come in all sizes, shapes, and colors. Most folks think of the fruiting varieties but there are a tremendous selection of ornamental bananas. The ornamentals are grown for their foliage or flowers or both.
Banana flowers are either pendant or upright with most ornamentals being upright. The blooms are red, pink, yellow, or white. They generally last for many weeks with Musella lasciocarpa remaining a vibrant yellow lotus flower for up to 6 months! Musa velutina consistently blooms for us in zone 8a in the ground with no protection in winter except a little mulch. It has a pretty pink flower and the most decorative fuzzy pink bananas.
The foliage is equally beautiful. The large paddle shaped leaves are great at filling voids in the landscape. Many of the cultivars have red mid ribs that contrast beautifully with the green leaves. There are a few white and green variegated cultivars that are stunning and rare. My favorite though, is Musa sp. ‘Siam Ruby’. It has the most incredible red and green variegated leaves you could imagine.
One of the greatest attributes of bananas is that they get big, fast! They require well worked soil that drains, copious fertilizer, and sun. When their needs are met they can grow from seedling to a large display, in a single season. So if you want a tropical look with large dramatic foliage and beautiful flowers to boot, try an ornamental banana.