Growing bananas in your garden? - incredible but true. Urban Tropics offers mail order banana plants, a real symbol of the tropics -  your very own banana plant. Of course whilst the hardy banana will fruit within two or three years we do not recommend you eat them, although I do know  some have tried cooking the fruit and said that it was very palatable. No, the idea of growing your own banana tree is not for the fruit but for some of the most impressive gigantic exotic leaves we can possibly grow in this country. Planted in a tropical border in the presence of palms, cordylines, tree ferns and other exotics this plant truly has the wow factor.

The banana plant grows so rapidly once established that it makes everything else in the garden seem slow - you can literally sit and watch it push up its magnificent leaves. It does best in semi shade and kept well fed with manure and heaps of water through the growing season. Give it plenty of room. Do not plant in a very windy position as the magnificent leaves will be shredded (a few rips in the leaves are characteristic.)

In central London it is unlikely to require any protection with the stems tolerating temperatures down to -6c, almost everywhere else the stems will need protecting if you want to save them - horticultural fleece is as good as anything. If you don't want the hassle of protecting them then just let the frost cut them to the ground and watch them bounce back the following spring. No matter whether the stems survive the winter the leaves will not. Providing the soil is free draining the root ball is hardy in all but the coldest parts of the country and should easily endure temperatures down to -8 or -10 once established. In one season these fabulous exotic plants can grow over 2 metres.

Once a stem has fruited it dies to be replaced by other stems pushing up behind it and the fruited stem should be cut down to keep it looking tidy.

Bananas are quite happy in very large containers providing they are watered frequently and top dressed with nitrogen fertiliser.

Plants shipped are unlikely to arrive with leaves but will re foliate as soon as the weather warms up.

This is one of our best selling plants and we are inviting you to reserve from our new shipment which will be ready for despatch early spring. We offer two sizes the smaller size should be grown on for a few months till large enough to plant out whilst the larger size is ready for planting in Spring. Please reserve as this limited supply literally gets snapped up once we receive them.

A must have for any exotic garden.

Please choose from one of the following sizes by checking box:-

 Musa Basjoo  Code MUB01 (40/50cm) Price 9.95                     
Musa Basjoo Code MUB-7 (50cm trunk) Price 24-95                 
Musa Basjoo Code MUB-10 (100cm trunk) Price 75-00            
Musa Basjoo Code MUB-35 (130cm trunk) Price 99-00