Red Banana Love!

Ensete ventricosum 'Maurelii' growing in a pot on the terrace

     I wanted to show you this image I recently took of one of the Ensete ventricosum 'Maureliis' I have growing in pots on the terraces at Froggy Bottom.  This is a plant that I got earlier this year from Home Depot for the large sum of ten dollars.  It has grown quite a bit as you can see.  Fertilizer, water, and warm weather will have this effect!  I love how the light glows through the leaves.  As I have said many times, why grow fuschia baskets when you can grow these bananas?
     In the pots in front of the banana is an Ochagavia, which is a hardy bromeliad I got from Sean Hogan, and an Agave geminiflora which I have grown from a small plant to the size you see there.  This is a most unagave -like agave which is one of my favorites.  It is probably not hardy for us, so I have taken it inside every winter I have had it. Behind the banana is Aralia elata 'Aureomarginata', one of my favorite small trees.  I am going to have to find a source for this, because I intend to plant one at my new garden.
     For those of you who might be interested in seeing Froggy Bottom before it is sold, the real estate agent is having an open house on Sunday, Sept. 1, 2013.  Info can be found here.