bigdog

Looks like my little musa rubinea is going to make it through the winter in the garage just fine. I was kinda worried about it when it's leaves dried up at the same time musa beccarii did from the chilly garage. Musa sikkimensis and m. itinerans (or what we are now calling m. itinerans) both are still holding green leaves when those two dried their's up. However, the pseudostem still looks fine and the spear leaf is nice and green. I don't have too many hopes of this one being a cold-tolerant species, but you never know. I will trial it in the ground next winter and find out!

Gabe15

Thats great Frank,
i have yet been able to test hardiness as well, too cold out! But maybe late next summer it will cool down enough without getting too cold that I can test that along side basjoo and Musella lasiocarpa, at least for foliage. Here's a recent picture of the larger of two of mine. It currently has about 10 pups in the mat and is grown in a 5gal.

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showp...to=416&cat=500

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Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

bigdog

I'll start taking bets right now that musella lasiocarpa wins that test, hands down. Nice looking m. rubinea, Gabe! Good to know that it pups so freely. Hopefully mine will throw out plenty of pups this year as well, so I can save a little corm befor leaving the mama to the elements of winter . Let us know when it flowers!

Tropicallvr

That mature M.rubinea looks great. The Rhodoclamys seem to have an thin petioles giving them a nice look. I'm liking them more and more. My large M.mannii seems to need alot of shelter from wind in the garden, but at it's size it's no problem. I'm looking forward to testing M.mannii, and M.rubinea's hardiness.
Gabe, do you know where M.rubinea is native to?

Gabe15

Musa rubinea is not well known yet, but I believe it is native to China in the Yunnan province.

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Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

Gabe15

I also really like the Rhodochlamys too Kyle. So far I have from Rhodochlamys....
M. laterita
M. velutina
M. mannii
M. siamensis
M. rubinea
M. hybrid 'Royal Purple'
M. hybrid 'Lavendar Beauty'
M. mannii x ?
M. 'African Red'
M. 'Violacea'

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Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

Tropicallvr

Hey Gabe,
I only have three(maybe?). M.mannii, M.coccinea, M.rubinea, and I sprouted 3 of the royal purple seeds you sent. Unfortunatly I got the different baggies confused, and now I don't know which one is which or if I have seedlings from both. It'll be interesting to see the blooms!
I was just thinking about Rhodoclamys a minute ago, while looking at a strange plant I got in my Musa "giant flowering" seeds. It has nice wide leaves like a Rhodo, and a red rib. It also has really wavy leaves, and I'll post a pic of it when the disk comes back.
I had now idea M."African red" was a Rhodoclamy(sounded like an edible).
I'd love to see any pics of the Rhodoclamys you have.

Gabe15

Musa coccinea is actually in section Callimusa, completly different from Rhodochlamys.

Here are a few pics of some of my Rhodochlamys plants I just took pictures of.
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=504

__________________
Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

Tropicallvr

Thanks Gabe,
Your M.'royal purple' definatly looks more like a Rhodo than mine do. It seem to have a dark colors on the stem too. Do you remember what rhodoclamys were near the mother plant?
Is the M.violesecens on your list the one I sent or one you grew from seed? The purple stained one looks like the ultimate house plant!? Lot's of nice color with a cool bloom. I have some seeds for you to try(tawain), but I'm waiting till the M.initerans(form india) comes in, and sending a few of them too. I know you can't say no, even though it looks like you have too many! LOL. Me too he he!

Gabe15

Musa violascens is a real species from the section Callimusa that often gets its name confused with a Rhodochlamys called Musa 'Violacea', I put it like that because it is not fully known if the ones on the market are hybrids or species or what. The one i have is the one you sent me and should be called Musa 'Violacea', or Musa violacea for now, just not M. violascens.

What do you mean by which ones are close to the mother plants?

I got 'royal purple', 'lavendar beauty' and siamensis from Tim Chapman, Gingerwood Nursery. The others are from Nature Products, Going Bananas Nursery and trades.

Hopefully later this year, I will be getting new rare ones, including a new type of rubinea (or so they say it is).

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Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

Tropicallvr

Yeah that new M.rubinea sounds interesting, but the yunnaninsis hybrid looks nice too.
I thought the 'Royal purple' seeds you sent were from some plants in Florida? I might have gotten that wrong, but I can't complain when I'm able to raise nice plants from seed.

Gabe15

Yes Kyle, I collected those seeds in Florida from a 'Royal Purple' plant, I do not know what the male parent was however.

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Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.