Central Virginia Organic Gardener

"And 'tis my faith that every flower enjoys the air it breathes." - William Wordsworth, 1798

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Banana seed?


















If you've read this blog for awhile, you know of my passion for bananas- that is, ornamental banana plants.  They add a beautiful, exotic touch to the summer garden. This is a series of photos of one such plant that bloomed last year (see the pink flower on top?  Just below the yellow flowers parts are proto-bananas).  Well, the plant formed little (inedible) bananas and I let them sit on the plant, curious as to what would happen.  The pink bananas stayed intact for quite a few weeks, then burst open into the flower-like structures in the third photo from top. These later formed into boxy, hard seeds (at least, I thought they were seeds).  I planted them and one came up (photo 4).  The photo on the bottom is the banana plant growing, and it will soon need a new pot, as it has outgrown the old one!
So, this answers an important question: do bananas have seeds?
Happy gardening!

2 comments:

Anita said...

I can see why you enjoy the look of these plants. So do I... thanks to your photos. :)

I just asked my girls if bananas have seeds and they said, "Yes, because it's a fruit." I thought it would be a trick question for them.

Judy Thomas said...

Ask your girls where is the seed of a banana, bet they don't know that!