Ensete glaucum (syn. Ensete wilsonii, Musa glauca)

(Snow Banana)

This is the hardiest Ensete species, in the English linguistic area it is called the "Snow Banana" so that at first one assumed it is as hardy as Musa basjoo since the seeds shall originate from Yunnan where it grows up to altitudes of 9000 feet. It is like Ensete ventricosum, has a stout bluish trunk, however remains a little smaller and has impressive large leves. Extended the distribution area over Yunnan, Tibet, Nordostindien, Thailand to New Guinea, the hardiness can be very variable. Therefore it is quite important to know where the seeds originate, if you want to grow it successfully. Seeds from Yunnan from high altitudes have to be preferred absolutely! The hardiest origins are presumably hardy under most favorable conditions to USDA zone 8. It doesn't form any edible fruits, for the fruit formation it will well hardly come in our area, too. The Ensete species don't form any suckers usually, suckers form spontaneously only in rare cases, if the vegetation point is damaged. If the pseudotrunk freezes down to the ground then the plant will mostly die totally , unless provide the pseudotrunk with a heatable winter protection. This species can be recommended only in climatically quite specially preferential areas such as in the Tessin. Or you dig the plant up in fall and cut the leaves off, overwinter the naked pseudotrunk with roots (please do not cut the pseudotrunk back, that otherwise not more able to regenerate) frostfree, this is the wire bag method which is tested in the U.S.A. In spring plant the plant out again, it will then resprout through again. Musa species have otherwise to be preferred to the Ensete species since Musa species are much more able to regenerate after frost influence in forming new suckers.