banana

Produces wonderful tasting fruit as does the others in the Cavendish sub-group. A vigorous grower with wide green leaves. One of the more common grown varieties in the USA. This particular cultivar has found great flavor in Florida as a backyard banana because of its ability to reliably produce fruit with a minimum of care by the homeowner. Cavendish are the most common variety of bananas grown by the hobbyist. The variety is very hardy and produces very large heads of fruit. The dwarf variety, which grows to 8 feet, is the most common backyard variety. The fruit is excellent tasting and can remain on the plant until ripe.

Dwarf green banana grows 6-8 feet and has a solid heavy trunk. Juvenile leaves will have some colorful reddish-purple markings. Will produce edible green banana in about 9-12 months. Very good choice for container culture and indoors.

Fruit is similar in taste and size of common Chiquita banana However, yields more than twice the amount of fruit. Very easy to grow. Must be checked often when close to ripening because of very subtle changes in color. Reaches heights of 10'-12'. Developed in Honduras. Very strong plant with stout base, rapid growing, mostly green leaves. Excellent tasting fruit, with a tart note that's almost citrusy, slightly sub-acid, refreshing, gets 6-8 inches long or better. Medium size plant with broad leaves is disease resistant, wind and cool tolerant and is easy to grow. Cold tolerant and disease resistant. Developed to be commercial export banana. Outstanding fruit production. It can support 100 lbs. of fruit without propping and produce a raceme in under a year. It is best ripened on the plant. The texture of the fruit at maturity is rather softer than Cavendish. Fruit will not turn brown when diced. It is good eaten fresh or used in cooking. Overall this variety takes longer to mature than most others but also seems the most cold tolerant. It produces good crops even in soils of marginal quality or areas of lower humidity. It is notably more resistant to rot in cold, wet winter soils but still needs rich, well drained soils in order to survive.

Gran Nain is the true Chiquita banana, the main product of Chiquita Brands International. Tree is 8' when mature and produces large bunches of bananas.

Ice Cream (Blue Java) cultivar grows 10-15 ft tall. Produces bunches weighting 40-60 lbs. Stout, straight fruit, 5-7 inches long and up to 2 inches wide. Skin bluish with silvery bloom when young, pale-yellow when ripe. Flesh is white and sweet with vanilla-like flavor. Eaten raw or cooked.

Banana Lakatan (also spelled Lacatan, Lactan) is one of the most common banana cultivars in the Philippines, desirable for desert bananas because of their sweet taste, aroma, and firm texture when ripe.

Due to its compactness Little Prince is ideally suited as a houseplant and as a tropical accent in the garden or container. Little Prince is an extremely dwarf banana, selected for its compact size and thick foliage. The maximum height for this variety is between 24 and 30 inches, which makes Little Prince the shortest banana available on the market (compare to‘Dwarf Cavendish at 8-10 feet, and Super Dwarf Cavendish at 4-6 feet). The thick green foliage also allows for improved resistance to leaf shred caused by winds - a common problem for all bananas. A true indoor/outdoor plant: best for gardeners who bring the plant into the home or conservatory for the winter.

A showy ornamental Banana with dark red leaves. Huge, tropical, ruby red leaves splashed with bright lime green, each offering a unique pattern of colors. Young plants start out more green and color intensifies with sun exposure. Thrives in hot, humid areas. Perfect for poolside plantings as a backdrop to smaller tropical plants. Stunning in large patio containers. A frost-tender perennial.

Truly Tiny grows only 2-3 ft tall in a pot and 4-5 ft in the ground. It is every gardeners dream if you have limited space or want to grow edible landscape in containers!
The fruit are 4-5" long, nice and full, and have very distinctive pineapple flavor.

Michelia Figo, Banana Magnolia. Spring-blooming, heavily scented, cream flowers streaked with purple. The banana shrub is so called because of the distinctive, sweet banana scent of its flowers. The plant is cold hardy, prefers filtered light, also a good choice for container culture. See picture of the plant.

Upright green foliage shooting out flowers with purple petals and white brush strokes and a yellow center. Beautiful color to add to your landscape. This beautiful perennial is a terrestrial growing, primary orchid hybrid. The tropical ground orchid hybrid requires warm hot temperatures and a location in full sun or partial shade. During the growth season roots should be kept moist, but not wet, whilst waterings should be restricted during the winter rest.
See video about Ground Orchids.

This dwarf banana from Thailand is the most commonly grown cultivar in that country. This delicious ladyfinger type dessert banana has been described as having the tastiest, sweetest, highest quality fruit.
It grows rapidly even in cool areas (hardy zones 9-10). The sweet, thin-skinned bananas mature very quickly, even when the flower appears somewhat late in the season. In addition, because it's a dwarf, it makes a great container banana. It is drought resistant and vigorous.