Look at Going Banana's in Homestead,Florida. Keyword search.Easy to find website. Just purchased a mail order Saba from them with no problems. I have three Bajoos in the ground which I protected beginning of winter and all three already coming up.Hope my other bananas do the same as spring approaches.

Definitely basjoo would be hardy in your area. I have them in my yard in zone 5. My aunts in Byrdstown, TN have them in their yards. You wouldn't have any trouble overwintering them in your zone unless the place you plant them holds water in the fall/winter. Put them in a well drained area, but one you can get the hose to in dry weather.

My musa is already showing signs of life. I mail ordered mine from Plants Delight Nursery. They have several various Hardy bananas.

I live in Indianapolis and I've had a Musa for 4-5 years now and it has survived temperatures of 12 below zero (mulched). You will have no problems in zone 7.

Thank you all for your suggestions and comments. I am very committed to having this tree. I have read a lot about them, but would like to ask how much room do I need to allow for the spread of the tree (if all goes well)? Thank you all so much.

I believe you can allow whatever amount you want to give them. I dig holes and build a mound of mulch/compost for my plants. They seem to grow best and spread within these mounds of rich compost. You should have enough pups to tranplant by mid summer if you give them room to grow. I would allow a 2-3 ft dia hole to start for a single plant.

Gagesgranny.What state are you located?

Gagesgranny.What state are you located?

Gagesgranny.What state are you located?

I planted a basjoo last year. It was a good size (6'tall) when it went into the ground in late April. It produced several pups throughout the growing season, 2 of them getting almost as tall as the mother by November. All told, the clump was probably 12' tall as the leaves were unfurling, and a little shorter once they had unfurled. There were probably a total of 10 pups at the end of the season. I didn't bother to separate any of them, and just left the whole clump to the frost. It killed the clump totally to the ground. Just yesterday I removed the mass of leaves that were left in place to find a baby basjoo poking it's head up through the soil. So, no protection what so ever, and the basjoo appears to have made it through. To boot, I didn't have it planted in a particularly well draining area.

Best of luck. I love all of my bananas, the hardy ones included.

Garrett.

I'd like to try a couple this year myself (zone 5...b I believe....Madison, WI). I've been reading up on them, and their winter care. I've looked up past posts on here, seeing some people even suggest some Ebay sellers....I've found some for around $6.50 each (small, of course, but they are said to grow fast!)...so I figure if I were to spend that kind of money it's a risk I can afford to take.

I would guess they wouldn't get too large in my climate, would they do ok planted alongside a small building? I thought they might look incredibly cute planted on each side of the door of my nice chicken coop. They would receive a lot of sun there. But not sure how much they'd spread out...if they need a large diameter around to spread their leaves? Otherwise...I'll plant them somewhere else...just thinking outloud here!

First time I planted my musa basjoo was in mid May,and it still managed to grow to 8'. Also the one I dug up is 6' right now and should be very impressive this year. I would always give them space so their leaves can spread.

Thanks for the input! I have another area in mind as well, where they'd have all the room in the world, but no protection from wind....to help avoid any ripping of the leaves. Maybe want to consider other areas...

The ones I have in the ground never seem to get ripped leaves while the potted ones always have to be pruned. Anyway I made a new planting bed thats over 1000sq.ft last year and I'm going to stuff musa basjoo's, musa sikkimensis, and some upright Elephant ears across the back. all will be completely exposed to the wind. I live facing a mountain so we'll see!

Last winter ('09-'10) wiped-out all but one of my Basjoos. I took extra measures this past winter & insulated them heavily plus this winter was much milder than last.I believe they never went dorment.They began to pop up in Feb.Counted 14 plants this week. A few are already 3 to 5 feet tall.A great start into summer! Mid range forecast is saying maybe one more frost.Maybe! If I can keep protected from the next frost I will be good.

I just purchased a musa basjoo tree for my patio container. Is there special care i have to give them? I put annuals in with it. Is that okay. Do i have to put them in the garage in the winter? Zone 6-7. Thanks for the help

Basjoos are super easy. All I did with mine this past winter (Zone 6) was dump a bag of mulch on them. They survived a rough wet winter. I didn't lose a single one.

My mother planted her basjoo in a pot and placed the pot in her garage. The plant received no water during the winter and survived just fine.