there are several cold hardy bananas. Which one did you get ie. musa basjoo, musella lasicarpa, mekong giant? Which company did you get it from? Depending on the banana you should be able to cut it back after the frost has killed the leaves. Then you will want to protect the trunk. I cut mine back to the ground and they grow to 15' every year. Some people use leaf cages and protect the trunk. So in spring they will have 4 or 5 foot of trunk to start with. As long as you plant it in well draining soil and keep it covered in winter a basjoo will come through fine.

Huh?! Say what?! That sure got my attention. You cut a fifteen-foot banana down to the ground every year?! And it grows back to fifteen feet the next year? Wow. Do you have photos? How do you slice cleanly through that thick pseudostem? Do you really cut it right at the ground level? Mine is newly planted in the ground and I am planning ahead for what I will need to do next winter. (Yes, we do get hard freezes in Jacksonville.)

Thanks!

I believe it is a basjoo, and I got it from Burgess. So, based on your advice, I'll let it get a bit of size on it and then plant it outside in Summer. Any chance that it might acutally fruit? In answer to love the yard's incredulity: yes bananas will grow that much easily. I usually bring a standard sucker inside in the Fall and then replant it in the spring. Last year it reached 20' before frost, which was only 5 months later.