Musella (Dwarf Banana)

As with cannas and other hardy tropicals, gardeners should plant musa outdoors before late August in climates north of Zone 8 to ensure establishment before cold weather arrives. From Zone 8 north, we recommend digging musa bananas for winter storage or building a wire-constructed, leaf mulch-filled cage around the trunk. One exception to the rule is Musa basjoo, which overwinters here in Raleigh and much farther north with no mulch. The growth rate of banana trees is phenomenal when plenty of moisture and nutrition are provided. Cold, wet soil in winter, however, can spell death for banana trees in colder zones.

Musella is very similar to musa, but differs in that the bizzare artichoke-like flower faces up instead of down, the stem is swollen at the base, and the plant is shorter than most banana plants. Musella will not form fruit in the garde...enjoy it for the flowers and leaves. when you are ready to buy musella for your perennial garden, we hope you'll chek out our online list of musella for sale below.