Is it possible to keep these in the ground during a southern Delaware winter?
ornamental banana trees
Comfy, that's a good question. If I had to guess, I'd say no.
Try posting this question in the Trees & Shrubs or Fruit tree forums.
Good luck.
Andy P
There are bananas that grow here. I think they are special hardy ones.
I think there was a post somewhere in one of the forums here...I just can't remember where! They dug their bananas up and stored them like EE's, dahlias and cannas.
A lot of people have had good luck growing this hardy banana, Musa basjoo (available from Logees):
http://www.logees.com/prodinfo.asp?number=R1974-4
The posts I've seen say you have to protect the plant by mulching. The Logees web site has an article that explains how to do it:
http://www.logees.com/pages/article2005-10-23.asp
I bet you'd be safe leaving it in the ground with a LOT of mulch around the crown -- especially if you have one of the hardy varieties. There is a book called "Hot Plants for Cool Places" that gives a lot of information on overwintering bananas. The authors have done it successfully in Massachusetts.
Another option is to overwinter them in the basement. I have two in Vermont that I've carried through three winters.
I let the plants get hit by the first frost or two, then I move them (in pots) into my basement, where temperatures remain between 45 and 55 degrees F. The plants go dormant for the winter, so no light is needed. I usually check the pots once or twice during the winter to make sure they haven't gone bone dry.
Once it's warm enough, you can move the pots back outside and begin watering. Because the winter is pretty long here, I move mine into a cool greenhouse in March or April. Eventually, they go outside.
I've had best results with Musa basjoo (Japanese fiber banana) and Ensete maurelii (Abyssinian banana). Neither one of them produces fruit, but the foliage is gorgeous.