Musa Sikkimensis
Originally uploaded by emagen
My Musa Sikkimensis is not dead!
I've been growing this banana for about 8 years. When I can be bothered I wrap the stems in fleece after the first frosts, other times I just let it fend for itself and it has come through the winter. Last autumn I was too lazy to wrap it up and justified this by the fact that it had come through the previous winter 'unwrapped'. The stems were reaching 10ft tall and they were 9 inches in diameter at their base, it was a magnificent plant and, I have to admit, I was rather proud of it. But this past winter seemed to have finally killed it off! The dead and rotten stems collapsed leaving nothing.
I've kept quite quiet about my loss and have been feeling rather ashamed of myself and, of course, bereaved. I've peered at the rotten stumps in the vain hope of finding new growth. How could I even have a blog named 'Musa' if I don't have any Musas!!
Good news! Just half an hour ago in what I assumed would be another fruitless search for new growth, I found a strong new shoot emerging from the ground!! We are back in business!
I've found that new shoots grow quite rapidly and I expect (hope) there will be more than one. I've tried growing Musa bajoo in the past but I thought it not as hardy as Musa sikkimensis, perhaps I was right.
I've decided to go out tonight to celebrate although I'm not sure if any of my favorite restaurants will have a table.
The photo above was taken last summer.
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