Ok this will probably be the final installment for this year unless it stays warm well in to fall. Some of the plants did better or worse than I had hoped but all together a succesful first year of growing I'd say. The Ice ream in the back is now over 7' tall(p-stem height). Here's what I think a typical New Jersey first season Banana grove should look like:
The small bed in the driveway didn't seem at all crowded in spring but....
This castor bean ended up over 12' tall( thanks Patty for the seeds) the Orinoco is leaning because it is "floating" not sure why it hasn't been overwatered but I'll find out when I dig up.
Siam Ruby was the only one my friends from Florida took any notice of.....snobs think bananas are weeds and harvest tons of Raja puri they want to get rid of!!!!
I of course have to include my fav the Dwarf nam wah which I have high hopes for in the future:
last a shot of the back deck from above:
Not a bad first year considering most of these were very small to start with and it was a cool spring and summer..........wait till next year!