My girl friend just brought over a clump of bannanas and I was so excited. They were from her tree. She lives in Mobile AL.
I peeled it and took a bite- yucky.
I was really hoping for it to be a little better then that. It was bitter and not sweet.
anna@natureday.com

Helens Hybrid is very new, most people are trying to overwinter small to medium-sized plants for the first time this year.

Helens hybrid has been the faster grower here this year. Faster than sikkimensis and musa basjoo. It seems to enjoy Norways maritime climate in the same way sikkimensis does, and has been growing until recently when we had our first frost. Musa basjoo has stopped growing long before this. It is now covered in hay, and I am hoping for the best.
A common mistundertanding is that helens hybrid produces edible fruit. The fruit is said to have almost more seeds than fruit.
{{gwi:424014}}
by mrbungalow

Hi mrbungalow,
I did't know that you are growing also Helen's hybrid which
is overwintering for the first time this year. My helen's
is also in the same case. I will try to wrap it with straw
mats and leave it on the ground outdoors. Sikkimensis has
overwintered 2 seasons without any cold protections, so my
trial should be successful.
The fruit of Helen's is said to be edible and very sweety
although very seedy. In any case we will see it in a year
or two.

By the way, I want to insert pictures in this post as you
did. Can you tell me how to manage to do it if you don't
mind.
Stan

Hello Stan, nice to see you here too!

Yes, Musa Helen is my big hope for the winter. We had a frost a while back, -1.4 degrees celsius a few hours. The leaves of Musa Helen burnt a little in the edges but otherwise stayed green. And it even grew a little when the weather warmed up, while Musa basjoo didn't grow much. I am hoping it will not rot easily from the wet weather here.

To post images, use www.imageshack.us or www.webshots.com to host your image. Then type in this script, but instead of using (), use :

(img src="") And then put your image URL in between the "".

Erlend

Hi Erlend, also nice to see you here too!!

You showed us the fact how Helen's hybrid is cold tolerant,
and I can find a direction how to overwinter it outdoors
on the ground.

Posting pictures, I will try to follow your instructions
and if something wrong happens, I will ask you again.
Thank you.
Stan

Yes, Musa Helen is definately very cold-tolerant and keeps growing when most other musa stop.
What I am worried about is its' ability to take cold and wet over a long period of time. This will be revealed next spring.

For basjoo, cold and wet seems to be no problem. For sikkimensis, it seems to be a bigger problem. Since helen is halfway sikkimensis, I am little worried. But then again, the other half, Chini Champa, is also said to be a very cold tolerant plant.

I also want to try dwarf Brazilian/Apple/Manzano, but sadly this cultivar is nowhere to be found in Europe.

Erlend

Hi Erlend,
Regarding the hardiness of Helens banana, everything will be revealed next spring as you said.

As for Dwarf Brazilian etc, is the import of banana young
plants restricted in your country? Otherwise you can buy
from American market via internet.
I have seldom searched bananas on the European webs, so I don't know if the said banana is on the market or not. But as this species is so common, it seems to me that you shall be able to find somewhere to get it.
Stan

hi asacomm
I have a raja puri belle banana here in zone 8 a ar .
It got hit by frost and turned completely brown
the insert i had with it said it was frost tolerant.
I thought it was dead but i was not sure.
so i dug it up and brought it in and in a week the trunk opened and a new leaf emerged... and its also grown another since then. I am very proud because i thought it was dead. : )

chris