Annie6078OH

So, although we've been treated to a rare, long Indian summer that let me leave the bananas out longer than usual, the colder temps are starting to set in. The beautiful "greenery scenery" in the backyard is now replaced with dreary "bare dirt" scenery (and the basjoos that are caged, mulched and tarped for the winter). At least I have a few photo memories to sigh over during the doldrums of winter. I know it's not much, but not TOO bad of a backyard garden for Ohio weather.

Unfortunately, I took the photos late in the season ... the planting in the first photo with the hostas & cannas was quite beautiful when both were vital & blooming (one Orange Durban flower still noticeable just above the bottom left banana leaf) and the planting by the window in the 2nd photo was much nicer before I started clearing out the underplantings in preparation for winter.

My "commisurating condolences" to the others that have to bring everything in for the winter hibernation.

Andrea

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stumpy4700

Your plants look great. BTW I grew up just outside of Dayton. Funny I never saw any Bananas back then.

alpha010

Hey Annie, very nice looking scenery! You have the look that I'm going to shoot for in the next few years. I am in NE Ohio near youngstown but zone is roughly the same, Kinda sucks having to put the 'babies' to sleep for the winter.......

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pitangadiego

Thankfully, I have no memories of Ohio, but those pix would have been good ones.

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Annie6078OH

Thanks for the comments.

Pitangadiego, I completely understand ... if I moved, I would completely block out my memories of Ohio weather as well. Have been thinking about moving to S. Carolina at some point in the next few years ... but no weather as perfect as where you live ... such a beautiful area.

Bob, I wish you much luck in your plantings next year. Just a suggestion, I've found that elephant ear hostas are great to add in your beds under the bananas. They don't have to be lifted, don't mind all the shade/have nice big leaves to fill in under the bananas. You're right, it just breaks my heart with every leaf I must cut off the plants to bring in for winter. It's also some heavy lifting, but fortunately, the cannas and elephant ears are easy.

Jeff, you're right ... I find that I am a bit of an anomaly here in Dayton. People are always asking what "those big plants" are in my yard ... most have never even seen elephant ears grown here, let alone bananas. I don't really ever expect to have edible fruit, but do manage to get flowers on the ornamentals from time to time. Funny, on walks with the dog, I've noticed that the EEs are catching on around the neighborhood tho ... hopefully, some will try some bananas as well and improve the look around here!

Happy growing,
Andrea

alpha010

Thanks for the luck...gonna need it! I have compacted granite for soil and need to almost replace enough of it in my target areas to be able to grow tropicals. BTW, have you ever left cannas in-ground over the winter?? I have the Home Depot purchased "Low Growing Durban" variety and are still in-ground but the foliage was frosted off about 2 weeks ago. I also have the Wal-Mart purchased "Giant Elephant Ear" softball sized bulb in the ground and surprise, surprise still green and growing! I plan on leaving all of those outside just for experimentation but would like to see what someone in my climate has experienced.

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Annie6078OH

I'm afraid I have not tried leaving cannas or elephant ears in-ground over winter, as they are so easy to lift and I'm afraid to lose them to our crazy winters here ... too much freezing/thawing/heaving in heavy clay soil. If I did try, I'd probably mulch several inches, cover with a tarp at least a foot wider than the bulbs, as I tried my 4' tall basjoos outside last winter with a chicken wire cage filled with tightly-packed straw covered with a tarp. Lost the p-stem, but got 3 new shoots from the corm that grew beautifully this season.

Would you please be kind enough to stop back come spring and let me know how your EEs/cannas fare in your overwintering experiment? Although pretty easy, I'd love to not have to mess with them at all ... I probably should have left one of each in to experiment with myself ... duh!

Thanks!
Andrea

alpha010

I could give full report come spring! I also read before on dave's garden about cannas that are hardy to 4b/5a and some that are normally 7b/8a can be left inground in z6 after a year or two of being established. I have seen people in my neighborhood that have certain cannas that they leave in all year round but they are more compact varieties and I would like to have the larger ones. You know.....Go big or go home! haha!

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