Every gardener has a plant in their garden that is not exactly what they wanted. Perhaps they bought the wrong seed, forgot the correct name of the plant, or the growing conditions aren’t what you pictured. This has happened to us here at Busch Gardens. Right now, we have some bananas at the park that aren’t exactly what we’d planned,
The plan called for a mature size of 3 to 4 feet tall with red streaks in the leaves. The ones that we planted near our water ride, Escape from Pompeii, are at least 8 to 9 feet tall, with each central “mother” plant having a couple smaller children.
Bananas prefer full sun, so they fit in perfectly in this area of the park. They also prefer an organic soil mix and frequent watering with good drainage so that the roots don’t stay wet. An ideal location would also have some wind protection to keep their leaves in shape. However, Pompeii is supposed to be a ruin, so a few ripped leaves fit right in.
This week, we also found that one of the plants is flowering. We will most likely have cold weather before the fruit matures, but it sure is interesting to see here in Virginia.
