Hello,

Please bear with me, I'm not a banana plant expert. We live in TN...zone 6 B, and have planted regular banana plants (not hardy) for years. We always cut them down in the fall, and store the ball in our garage, and then replant in the Spring.

Last year- I bought a couple "hardy" bananas, and they were Gorgeous- some almost 16 ft. tall, lush and beautiful.!! In the fall, we cut them down, and just mulched them heavily. This year, when they came up again, they are smaller, the leaves are very narrow, and shriveled and brown on the edges. Does anyone know what happened?

Our soil is bad where they are (typical TN clay)- but last year- they didn't seem to mind their location at all.

Are hardy bananas NOT really hardy? Or is the soil the problem? Is it too late for them this year?

We love the tropical feel our "nanners" give us.

Thanks ahead of time.