Hope to be eating a few of these in a couple months,homegrown nanners during the winter,and in Kansas.
If you would love to try some,just follow the yellow brick road,,,just follow the yellow brick road!!!!
Banana Rama
Yes 2 and 1 make three banana trees in fruit!!!
Just follow the yellow brick road!!!
Watch out for the flying monkeys!!!
And don't stop to take a nap,in a field of flowers !!!
Tropicman, what variety do you have there? Are they in the ground or container?
I had a nice bunch of DC bananas this summer, my first, but they got so big and heavy that they broke the pseudostem. :-(
SB,on the left is DC,and the right saba,and the one pic by itself is raja puri,these were in the ground since April,and the flag leaf appeared,the week I was going to dig them up to bring inside the greenhouse,I wasn't sure they would do anything being under stress from digging them up and all,I cut 55gallon plastic drums in half,drilled a dozen holes in the bottoms for drainage and planted them ,the raja was the first to flower,but it seems to have come to a stop now,and it looks like it has a lot more bananas in the flower,for the flower is quite large and heavy still,but the other 2 are opening up fine and showing all the bananas.
Not sure how much stress a plant can take when it's in the flowering mode and then you dig it up,if that wasn't bad enough,had to cut all the leaves over halfway,for the greenhouse is only 9ft tall,just to get them inside,now what a 4 month wait to see if they will ripen????
Hi Tm...I don't know if this helps but my banana that was freeze damaged ...leaves all burn't off ...still continued to grow the bananas,so I have a bunch that is still alive, in Australia once the bananas are fat enough we pick them or cover them so they will turn yellow.I do not know why, maybe it hastens the ripening thing.My question to you is ...how does the boy flower pollinate the girl flower ? because I am thinking in an enclosed situation it might prevent any pollination.Never given it a thought before now so excuse my ignorance.I see you are still working hard ...you should be resting by now...oh well back up the yellow brick road to Oz and a hot steamy day ahead! You take care now and have a good one!
chrissy :)
Hi Chrissy,
I just learned recently edible bananas don't need pollinated!!!
I didn't know that!!!!
Still dug up 4 palms today,then had to run on the other side of town to my sis's house and pick up afew plants that she was going to let freeze,and I just couldn't let that happen,one was a huge swedish Ivy,a 4 ft plumeria,a 3 ft allamanda bush,a new begonia called firebush,has bright orange flowers,and a fushia bouganvilla.,time I got all that repotted that was the day.
Better get to bed,get up in 4 hours!
Nite
Don
Oh they don't need pollination? ...I wonder why there are boy and girl flowers ...strange well I suppose the edible ones don't have seeds where the primative ones do and edibles once did.
So adding to the penthouse then? have you been over to the garden addicts article ...funniest thing I have read in the forums ...
Take care TM!
chrissy :)
No I haven't been over there yet,seems my puter time is limited from all the overtime at work,and home chores.
Take Care
Stay out of the sun!!!
Well I could cut out my shave and shower at nite before bed,but the downside,is I'd have to sleep out in the greenhouse!!!!LOL
But the goodside to that is more time to water and prune!!!!LOL
Were both already in that club!!!!!LOL
You being the CEO!!!!!
Wear those sunglasses outside with a hat!!!!
Take Care
Don
Those nanners sure look good!! I just finished eating one over vanilla ice cream covered in chocolate syrup. :~p
Oh Man,your trying to make a old man cry!!!!LOL
LOL. That was my goal. :~p
Women!
Can't live with them
Or without them!!!!LOL
Still as cheeky as ever pepper :)
How cold is it now TM are you finished yet? everything all carefully tucked away ?
We have had inches of rain ...so of course everything is going crazy
the weeds most of all! and of course the warmth and rain brings a zillion flies ... it isn't Summer until you have accidently breathed one up the nose and you cough and splutter for ages until you are satified it really only flew in and out and you didn't really swallow it!
Must be nice and peaceful in your greenhouse ...after getting whacked over the ear with a stray branch ...a think a greenhouse sounds nice and safe.
Have a good one TM pepper and everyone!
chrissy
It's not cold here. In fact if it wasn't for the leaves being all over the ground and the trees being almost bare you would think it was spring time. lol. Really crazy weather. But in a day or two it is supposed to feel a bit more like winter again.
lol. I always hate it when it gets that hot. It seems to last forever. I also hate being outside when it is in the 20s or even the teens all day cause then it's really hard to breathe without your lungs hurting. So I am enjoying this very much. It's nice to see all the leaves and not be freezing. lol
Yes the leaves are dropping here like flies!!!!
But breezy warm!
Yes chrissy,everything is in its place,but it's hard to keep everything cool,temps been running close to 90* in all the greenhouses with all fans running and doors wide open,having to spray and mist everything a couple times a day to keep the temps into the
80's.
And with all the doors open leaves are piling up all over inside the greenhouse more work for me to vaccum them all up!!!!
And now it gets dark at 5pm.and I don't even get off work until the stars are shining .
Glad I put lots of lights in all the greenhouses.
Fall weather is retuning this week,about where the normal range should be!
Oh golly I never would of even thought of hot weather problems ...
of course it would be very difficult! Do you make a lovely compost with the leaves?
Well I never thought I would be wishing cooler weather upon you so I will say I hope you get the temps you want! (for Kansas I mean) because of course you would rather have balmy tropical breezes ...oh but we can all dream can't we :)
77* yesterday,but today so far only 64* expecting 70*.
Yep it's kind of like during the winter,the freezing then the warming,freezing then the warming,the plants don't know what to think or do!!!
Sometimes all the freezing and thawing,will push a plant clean out of the ground!!!!
Usually this time of the year mid 50's during the day and mid to low 30's at nite.
Dreaming now!
Hey!! We're almost to the 50s again. Just a couple more days.
I hate all that freezing and thawing. That was especially true during the spring ice storm when all the snow melted and turned into ice, then water, then ice...
I was all over the place when driving my golf cart and truck. lol.
Been there too!!! LOL
Also have done complete circles,glad no one was coming head on!!!!
Those over passes are dangerous during a ice storm,whats even scarier,is when you at a crawl and someone passes you like you where standing still!!!LOL
I think you have it ruff on the other hand,fighting the high temps and those flies,can be just as troublesome,but in a different way.
Do you get much wind,or is it most of the time pretty calm?
What I mean to say,is it more windy during the summer or winter?
We have severe winds in both Winter and Summer ...the gum trees drop limbs and kill and injure many people ...they are dangerous trees for that reason and also because they explode in bush fires.The Hot winds of Summer bring the fires and the Icy winds of Winter bring damage via flying objects and trees coming down as well as branches.We live in a very windblown area but between the winds ...fires and floods it's pretty good :) I guess we all pay the price where ever we live ...I would hate to live in an Igloo wouldn't you?
Have you seen the latest Australian film?
In case you haven"t heard about it or seen it ...this is a bit of an interview with the American Star who was terrified while shooting the film and refused to jump into the water until the producer jumped in and shamed him into it ...the Australians thought he was a sook ...I thought he was smart!
HE is best known for playing a cool, composed CIA agent, but Hollywood star Michael Vartan was anything but calm when shooting his new film in the Outback.
The actor was the only foreigner in the cast of crocodile thriller Rogue, the follow-up to director Greg McLean's 2005 debut Wolf Creek.
Vartan, who found fame playing agent Michael Vaughn on hit television series Alias, says the month-long shoot in the Northern Territory was the most physically challenging thing he has ever experienced.
“I've been in hot places, but Darwin is a tropical heat that makes you want to put a bullet in your head,'' he says with a smile. “Especially the first few weeks where we were shooting all the landscape shots and not really doing anything.
“Two days into shooting, I was sitting in this polyester suit on the front of a boat in 52C heat and I realised that I hadn't gone to the bathroom to pee yet -- literally. I know that sounds impossible, but I hadn't.''
Vartan plays a travel writer who embarks on a river cruise that turns into a battle for survival when a rogue crocodile attacks.
Filming in Kakadu was a revelation.
“There were man-eating crocs everywhere,'' Vartan says, eyes wide. “It all added to the sense of fish out of water. Our little boat got stuck once, so (co-stars) John Jarrett and Robert Taylor were on each side with an oar to try and move us and I had an umbrella at the ready to stab a croc if it tried to . . . well actually, what the hell's an umbrella going to do against a 15-foot man-eating croc?''
I would rather fight the ice and snow than fight all that wind and flies. Plus in the snow you can go sledding down hills and start snowball fights. So much fun til the snow gets down your collar. LOL. Then you get cold again and run inside to warm up.
I need to see if I still have my sled again. May need it this winter. :~)
Chrissy it seems that your Island is 10 different countries in one huge Island,which I believe is almost the size of the USA.
Our borders all just the opposite,west is a lot warmer than the east coast,where,I believe your east coast is the tropical and the west coast is mostly the drier type desert coast.
And the center is the nowhere land,less populated like our middle of the country.
So much alike but yet so much different!!!
My brother in law works with a fellow from new zealand ,Nigel,his family own a huge sheep farm or ranch not sure what you call it there,but he dislikes sheep ranching he came to the US to get away from it,altho he does visit ,every few years,he still comes back to the US,he loves new zealand but the sheep is another story.
I don't know if your country was like the early USA where the cattle ranchers and the sheep herders fought to the death over the free range for grazing there herds.
What a time that must have been and enduring the wild weather they must have had to deal with!!!!
Pepper
When I was a just a young lad,I stayed and played so long in the snow,and got frost bite in my fingers and toes,and never ever liked playing in it again,and now that I'm diabetic,I get those nerve shocks where I had the frost bite,and man do they ever hurt!!!
But it sure looks pretty when no one ever walks thru it!
Hi guys keep those fingers warm ...my hubby comes from a land with a lot of snow (Northern Italy at the foot of the Mountains) he says the snow is very pretty "on Christmas Cards " ha ha ha
TM you asked about the sheep vs cattle in Australia's early history
here is a little bit of history for you
Our Marinos (Sheep)
This year the Australian wool industry is celebrating 200 years of successful international wool trade: in 1807 the first bale of Australian wool was sent to Britain for commercial sale. The Australian wool industry has come a long way since then, and since 1788, when the first sheep arrived on the First Fleet.
From that humble beginning, Australia has become one of the world’s premier suppliers of fine apparel wool, generating close to half a billion kilograms of fleece wool each year.
Away from their native Spain, Merinos thrived in Australian conditions and the breed was soon noted for its adaptability, magnificent fleece and high-quality fibre.
As soon as 1830 the Australian sheep population had grown to two million. Britain’s demand for the world’s highest-quality natural fibre – Australian Merino wool – was met by ever-expanding flocks.
For the best part of 200 years, wool and the Merino have been deeply ingrained in the hearts and minds of many Australians. Wool manifests itself prominently in Australian art, humour, language and fashion.
Yes I have seen the movies where the "ranchers" fought each other over grazing land. Nothing like that here ...England was in dire need of wool so the early settlers grew wool because it was much more valuable than growing meat .The sheep were much better at surviving on sparse feed because they would eat down right into the roots of the growth, that is the most likely reason for the fighting in America over the grazing land.After the sheep have been through it takes a while for the grass to recover thus no food for the cattle.
Your friend from new Zealand like most kiwis is probably the butt of many a sheep joke ...I won't repeat any but you ask him next time you see him.
The shoot ups and fighting here (not that it compares to the US ) in the old days was about mining gold ...you staked your claims just like I have seen in your movies and hoped no one jumped it before you made it legal.So except for the animals our history is sort of similar except the early government granted you land if you promised to farm it ...or mine it. Our early fortunes were made from wool ,gold and opals.
Sheep are still a very big thing here but cattle are catching up!
I hope your nannas are doing well :)
Oops I forgot to say ...that I am a very naughty ozzy like a lot of people we forget to mention one of our most beautiful states (a sort of in joke) We are two islands actually Tasmania is down there under us aren't I dreadful! *blushing* and there is the odd insy winsy Island scattered around us too.
Thanks Chrissy,that was very interesting read,didn't know you all were that big in sheep any more.
Is Tasmania as beautiful as I hear people talk about?
Tasmania is a lot like England ...unfortunatley it's history is pretty awful it was the worst convict settlement to begin with ...harsh cruel and isolated ...many folk that vist the old jail "feel" severe blackness descending upon them like a heavy blanket of depression and claustraphobia and that was before the Massacre a few years ago,where a lunatic went berserk and murdered over thirty men women and children as well as wounding several more.This of course has become even more of a horror.
Despite that it is a very beautiful place in a way I guess it is a little like New Zealand in some places but more English than anything.
Further to Tasmania
A tourist's Quote:
No one at Port Arthur talks about the tragic loss of 35 innocent lives more than a decade ago.
Nor is the name of the crazed, cold-blooded gunman behind the abominable act ever uttered.
Much has been said and written about one of the world's worst killing sprees which unfolded with terrifying speed at the Broad Arrow cafe in the early afternoon of Sunday, April 28, 1996.
And while the blonde-haired, pale-faced perpetrator will never be released from his prison cell, many locals are still traumatised.
Only minutes before our luxury coach pulls into the historic convict settlement, our tour guide briefly and nervously touches on the issue plaguing the minds of most, if not all, the tourists onboard.
"A terrible, terrible crime happened there but please do not ask any questions about it," he warns, his voice deepening.
"It is just not something the staff wish to talk about."
People are handed a booklet on the history of the "terrible crime and are cautioned not to talk about it.
********************************************
This incident changed the gun laws in Australia ...no one but a licenced shooter may own a gun.
Back to the history of the jail ...at on stage over three thousand boys were in prison ... from the ages of 9 to 18, one typical example was a 9 year old boy shipped to Australia for stealing toys.
These days the jail has beautiful gardens ...unfortunatly they can't dispel the awful feelings people have when they visit ...in a way their beauty seems to bring into sharp focus the actual buildings which resonate with horror and suffering.
Sorry about the description ...Tasmania is beautiful only some of it's history is ugly.
Cheryl,from Perth told me her and her hubby loved to visit Port Arthur,it was there favorite place,in fact if I can remember correctly,they bought 25 acres,where you leave Australia to go to Tasmania.
I haven't heard from her in over a year now,the land they bought was an old farm that had grown over,in the picture,looked like everything hadn't been watered in quite a long spell,for the brush was all brown.
She said it would be 2 or 3 years before I hear from her again,they were going to live there in a trailer or sort and build there house,I think her most favorite thing in the world was her couple of bandicoots that she feed every day,they really loved hamburger.
I can't speak for it myself never having been there.
Re Tasmania as a beautiful place as I said being sort of like England it would not suit tropical dreamers ,my Nephew was in Tasmania two Christmas's ago and it snowed! ...Christmas is hot hot Summertime in Australia on the mainland in fact it was almost 120f here at the time! I don't think your bananas would like it much.
Your friend may have frozen in her little home.A lot of people do retire to Tasmania but return pretty quickly because of the cold.
The gardens there are mostly cold climate even though at odd times it can be very hot.I guess might have to go visit one day :)
Here is a picture of some of my bananas to get back on to the subject ...sorry I am always wandering off somewhere I shouldn't
Happy greenhouse gardening TM
Your bananas are really looking good,must be in a protected area out of the wind for the leaves look perfect!!!!
Just how far is Tasmania from Sidney???
The fine leaf tree at the bottom of the picture right in the center,looks somewhat like the sensitive tree,does it have thorns?
I have one looks a lot like that with thorns.
My bananas are right behind my home, and they are in a suntrap sheltered by the lovely Jacaranda and various jungle greenery.
Funny our weather has been awfully windy and rainy,lots of storms etc ,this is my special secret garden place.Out the front exposed to the severe winds they would never survive. The Jacaranda is losing it's beautiful flowers now and the green leaves are the ones you see, a very lacy ...not a very heavy shade tree.How far away is Tasmania from Sydney? I don't know but it is a very long way ...I will see if I can find out.
Here is my favourite photo ...taken in the morning after a big storm ,
I fell in love with the spider web!
Happy weekend TM and everyone!
WoW! that is just gorgeous,seems no one is home at the spider web!!!
Must be out visiting,or hunting the same thing I guess!!!LOL
Chrissy, that is one beautiful picture of your garden through the spider's web!