What a nice article and garden you have! I like that tropical theme. What type of banana trees do you have? Do you overwinter them inside or out?

Sophia

Hey, what a nice article! What a nice garden! What a nice way to associate a face with a(n imaginary) person :-)!

Good for you and your garden. I wish I had the sun to do a tropical theme.

Johnnie, you go! How cool for you. And do you know what really inspires me, you've only been gardening for 4 years and you're already in the papers. Maybe in 7 years I'll have an elaborate kitchen garden ready for the news, too. (2005, year ONE.)

Well, I've actually been gardening for something like 35 or 40 years (depending on whether you count my "helping" my dad in the vegetable garden when I was a very small child) but being in a city apartment and then condo for 10 years, when I finally got a house with a yard I guess I kind of went crazy...

BTW Kim, you can do a tropical theme even without full sun; you just have to select different plants.

Very nice article (and garden!). :-D

I think we gardeners know that gardening, even in the temperate areas, is a year-round endeavor. ;-) It's difficult to get to a low-maintenance garden - even when one has an established backbone of mature shrubs and perennials.

And I can relate about the "going crazy" part if I ever got a house. I think that's why I have stayed where I am and do the "in-ground" experiments at my sisters' houses. I can sneek stuff in there and they wouldn't even know it. LOL

Can I get your autograph? ;)

Johnny, I'm getting some hardy palms this year too, windmill and a sabal minor (I think). Did you have to protect yours at all? Supposedly they're hardy in zone 7 but I'm just being cautious. We've had a couple really nasty winters.

Nice article. From the thread title I thought maybe you had gotten busted for growing marijuana plants:)

Larry

Very pretty-- good for you!

Thanks for sharing this with us, Johnnie. Very nice story -- and nice to see you get some recognition for your work.

John, do you know the botanical name of the Japanese Fiber banana? Also, are these bananas edible? Thanks, Toni

Toni - I believe the term "fiber banana" seems to refer to Musa basjoo. I recall seeing that indicated on some website recently.

Yes, the banana is Musa basjoo, and it has been completely hardy. They get off to a slow start but once the weather warms up, they really take off.

Here's a better version of the same photo.

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden photo