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love_the_yard

Red Abyssinian Banana (ornamental banana)

In case anyone in Jacksonville is looking for a hot plant in the past couple years - the Red Abyssinian Banana (ornamental banana) Ensete ventricosum Maurelii - I found a deal on those, too. I have heard these called "the bling" of the garden. From my experience, they usually run around $25 or more. Well, the Turner Ace Hardware on Atlantic Blvd (just 1/4 mile east of Lowes, on the south side of the road) has big, healthy gorgeous ones for $12.99! Yesssssssss, I bought one. I wasn't shopping for one, but it jumped up into my cart. Oh happy day.

I have three others: a big one I bought last year for twice as much, and two smaller ones that I ordered from eBay. They have all done very, very well. They are big pigs: plant them in tons of manure or other amendments and give them lots of Milorganite. I mixed a bunch in the soil in the hole when planting and have applied more this year. They did get knocked back a little by the freeze (25.7 F for twelve hours on Feb 17/18) but came back quickly and strong. I just love them.

Here is a picture of my first little guy, right after I planted him last year. He is about 2-3 times as tall now. I will try to get an updated photo.

Carol in Jacksonville

This post was edited by love_the_yard on Wed, Apr 17, 13 at 8:31

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