just curious what your methods of overwintering are???I think Ive over done it but at least they will make it I hope.thanks

As long as you mulch the plants before winter it will come back every year. I started with 1 musa basjoo and now I have 10 plants all over my front and backyard.

Hey Willy in zone 5b we must look for the perfect micro-climate.. If you are very far away from the foundation or in the open facing north you will have to add exta protection and or even a heat cable set to come on at -10 celsius. If you need more info contact me mikejjpage@yahoo.ca. cheers
coconutmike

They are about 2ft from the foundation(southwall)surrounded by bags of leaves,leaves filling the centre,then a bag of leaves covering the top,then I have an old blanket over them then 2 tarps and a frame I built that has a sheet of plywood on the roof to direct the snow/rain away,also they are located besides a little pond that doesnt freeze because of a pond de-icer.If this works I will have the courage to put my M. lasiocarpa out there for winter.If all fails I have brought in a few pups to start over!!!I have always grown prickly pear cactus on this wall with no protection and they never show any signs of winter damage so I hope the same for the basjoo!!!Coconutmike,do you save your peusdostems or do they come back from the ground every year??

It's not that hard to overwinter basjoo in 5. You have to protect them properly and make sure you protect enough area around the plant so that the roots don't freeze too thoroughly. Most people throw a little circle of mulch a foot across on their plant and then wonder why they froze out. You want to protect at least a 3-4 foot circle and protect it deeply in zone 5 and lower.

Here is a link that might be useful: basjoo mulching instructions

Hello Willy and Sandy. To respond to both of you. You guys are in zone 5 USDA I am in zone 5 Can which is actually zone 4 so here is how I do the protection. By the way Willy your plant is in the perfect micro-climate.
Step 1 -cut down to 2-3 ft, dig around front of rootball 1 ft deep add hay and dry kilm sand. Buy water pipe insulation looks like styrofoam put around trunk or that silver insulation (comes in rolls) wrap trunk. Then add arbotex and burlapp. Put hay (like the bundles you can buy at Halloween) add around plant thick. Cover with the largest styrofoam rose cones they sell dig rose cone 2 inches into ground. Add soil/sand mixture around cone and rest more hay on outside wall of rose cone and cover with bubble wrap tarp staple it to rose cone. Put rock or brick on rose cone Bingo. You can't reaally over-protect bananas like palms. See my bananas on recent pics gallery.
ciao for now coconutmike

By the way Willy. I do not dig up the peusdostems. You can bring them in your basement and start again in may like the canna plant. I have about 20 bananas that I keep outside and 20 large bananas that I put in pots and put inside my tropical partyroom