Create a tropical landscape with the Hardy Japanese Banana, Musa basjoo. This tough exotic beauty may be grown directly in the ground year-round in the St. Louis area. It is hardy here and has survived winters even in Canada. Although we think of bananas as trees, Hardy Japanese Banana is technically an herbaceous perennial that grows 6-14′ tall. It is admired for the huge 6′ long and 2′ wide paddle-shaped leaves that bring a fun, tropical look to patios and gardens. This plant sometimes produces fruit that is small, green, and inedible. Leaf-sheaths overlap to form a trunk-like pseudostem (false stem). After flowering and fruiting, the pseudostem dies, but the roots push out new shoots, known as pups.

Use Hardy Japanese Banana in containers and the garden, wherever an exotic show is welcome. In winter, the plant will die to the ground in the St. Louis area.

Growing instructions: Plant in full sun to part shade in soil that has been amended with compost or other organic matter. The plant will grow best with consistent moisture. In fall or winter, after a foliage-killing frost, cut back the plant to 2-3′ and apply a protective thick mulch.