Musa sikkimensis

Description

Musa sikkimensis, is a fabulous hardy banana plant from the foothills of the Himalayas unsurprisingly in the Sikkim provence.  For us this means it naturally has a good resistence to winter cold (a little more so than Musa sikkimensis ‘Red Tiger’, regularly experiencing freezing temperatures each winter.  Here in the UK Musa sikkimensis is surely one of the most exotic bananas with huge exotic zingy green paddle shaped leaves up to 2m or more long.  A vigorous and beautiful essential!

It is generally accepted Musa basjoo the Japanese hardy banana is the UK’s hardiest banana for cool climates but really Musa sikkimensis is in my opinion just as tough and undeniably perhaps more attractive, the leaves being thicker and stronger then Musa basjoo.  When grown side by side here in West Sussex, Musa sikkimensis regularly out performs Musa basjoo with trunks regulalry reaching 3 or 4m in height.

As with Musa basjoo we recommend for maximum growth and size, some form of winter protection, either by wrapping the trunks in straw or hessian, even fleece to stop the cold penetrating the centre of each trunk.  Allowing the banana to regrow each spring from the height it was in the autumn rather than having to regrow from the base.  Plant in fertile soil (add organic matter and spoil with fertilizer) in a sunny to part sunny position ideally away from strong winds and enjoy the spectacular growth.

Definitely one of my favourites and looks so tropical when planted amongst bamboo, palms, hardy gingers ansd giant Dahlias.

**Please note when sending out fast growing leafy plants such as bananas we will have to cut back the leaves a little or bend them to fit in a box, visually this can look traumatic but is the only logical way we can post or package economically. Once received your plant will rapidly grow looking splendid in no time. Thank you for your understanding.**