if its the hardy type id put it in the ground and rap it up for winter . if it isn't youl have to put it in a pot so you can move it out of the garden in winter .

Thank you and can it put up with the hot sun I get in front garden it is boiling there I promise in summer ..

Its cold resistant till about 10. degrees I just looked

it will love the heat .

Thank you so much noseypotter I might put it in ground cos it will stick the very cold if it says about 10 degrees ...yes is that OK noseypotter ..:-) ??

Hi Sharon, I think the 10deg thing, means 10 celcius, which is 5o deg f, I don't know of one that can stan any lower than 7c 45f, so you coul plant them out when danger of frost has passed, and repot them before the first frost's of winter, and keep them overwinter in a frost free greenhouse, or at least somewhere with plenty light and frost free, Derek.

What type of Musa are you going to buy? Only Musa baasjoo is hardy in the UK and even that will lose all its large leaves after the first frost. You need to protect the pseudostem. Musa cavendish and most other musa do not like temperatures much below 10C. Ensete's are worth investing in, but also need to come inside over winter.

The leaves and trunk of banana plants that are sold as hardy won't survive our winters. What usually happens is that anything above the ground will die back and hopefully, if the frost doesn't get too far down into the soil, the plant will grow new shoots from the rhizomes next season.

I bought a hardy plant, (Musa chinensis) from B&Q 7 years ago and planted it outside. It died back each year but came up again in spring. The only problem was that it never really reached more than 5 feet in height before it died back again when the frost got it. Then a few years back we had a bad winter and that killed it off completely.

Banana plants usually give of little plantlets or pups around the base. Fortunately I had propagated some of these on and kept them in my conservatory.

What I do now is to grow the mother plant in a large pot and overwinter it in my conservatory. The pups go into pots and spend the winter on my bathroom windowsill. The humid conditions of the bathroom brings them on great and then in the spring they go into larger pots in the garden. After a couple of years the previous mother plant gets too tall to keep in my conservatory and it stays permanently outside. If it doesn't survive past the winter what the heck, I enjoyed it for the summer and I always have another one.

The only downside to putting them outside in the summer is that the wind and rain will batter the leaves and leave them looking unsightly and shredded.

I have seen what you say Myron but I know a couple of tropical plant specialists that rap the hardiest type and get them 20 feet plus . admitadly the gardens are quit shelterd .

Hi folks its musa baasjoo and it is 10 c as Derek said ...thank you for brill advice ...I am just wondering now if I will get it if it dies away in winter I really want something that won't loose it leaves like canary palm (hopefully)...I just love the look of it though can you suggest something similar that will stay OK in winter ...thank you again ...I love these unusual big plants /trees ...

its not similer but it looks tropical . how about a fastia or false caster oil plant ?

Hi Leigh, nice to see you back on the forum, always a pleasure, never a chore :o)

That's good advice, thank you. I have often thought about wrapping them up in hessian or some other protection as I've also heard that this works. To be honest, I can't really be bothered to spend the time tucking in plants for the winter then getting them out of bed next season.

Also, it doesn't seem natural to me to bind a plant up with something to keep it warm. The way I see is if a plant can't grow in the environment where you put it without having to wrap it in fleece, then I don't grow it.

I have 12 musa basjoo in the back garden. All you need is some plastic drain pipes (cheap from any shed). You cut off the leaves of the banana put the pipe over the pseudostem and fill loosely with straw. Cover the top of the pipe with a lid to stop the rain getting in. That will protect them over most winters. They are hardy that way to -4C, even more if the area is sheltered. You could dig them up and place them in a frost free shed/garage.

Will the leaves grow back all the way up the trunk again Botanic or just from the crown? Either way, this seems like a good idea.

I kind of agree with you Myron . I have vloads of snails but the plants I keep resist damage from them and a willow I got gets a few caterpillers but know problem realy . fighting nature can be a real uphill struggle . its a pleasure to be back Myron .

The leaves emerge from the pseudostem crown. Musa basjoo does pup naturally forming a grove, so you will see some that look like they have leaved lower down. Slugs can be an issue (mine this year was the odd caterpillar eating the emerging leaves).

In bad prolonged winters like 2010 most in the UK were cut to the ground but emerge quite rapidly when the temps recover. It is from warm areas of Japan that get the odd frost, so basjoo are quite hardy. Apparently 7a in the US, which means 9b in the UK with our milder but far wetter winter conditions, hence the need to keep them dry with a pipe and some insulation.

Hi Sharon, if you want a palm tree, the Trachycarpus fortuneii, [ Chusan palm, fan palm ] looks tropical, but is completely hardy, and the bigger it gets, the hardier it gets, I think there's a photo of mine in my photo's, the trunk of mine is about 5 1/2 ft now, an then the new leaves coming from the crown, it needs no winter protection, but try to plant it out of easterly winds, as they can make the leaves look a bit tatty, Derek.

Thank you Derek that sounds fabulous I will get one and will stand the very hot sun ...

Hi Derek, Trachycarpus wagnerianus is the hardiest of the Trachycarpus palms. It has smaller fronds than its very close relative the fortuneii and as a result looks less tatty. It comes from cold areas of China and shrug off 2010 with elan.

Hi botanic will it stand the very hot sun ...

Palm trees grow wild in very hot countries. Standing the cold is more of a consideration and the others have given the best varieties for cold hardiness. Temps in Cardiganshire don't normally approach even the south of France let alone the Canaries so don't worry. (They don't in Pembrokeshire anyway) Have a look at exposed seaside gardens - lots of them have a palm tree.

Thank you ☺☺:-) ☺☺