Sorry to be a pain in the pattutti, but, your Habiscus, you said you mulch heavy. I have a zone 8 hardy hibiscus. Does it need indoors for winter ALL THE TIME? The one you have and mulch heavily is it a really hardy strain or can I POSSIBLY plant mine in the ground with good protection? I know you can't say definitely yeds or no, but the plants you have and your experience caring for them. Your best guess, a Hibiscus from a big box store in a pot. Have you been successful in overwintering a zone 7-8 hibiscus with mulch and burlap wrap or Styrofoam box with a fluorescent bulb or 2?

Alex, I have about 4 different varieties of musa, in addition to the reddish colored ensete. I saw frost on the lawn and garden 3 different days the first part of September, but luckily it just touched the edges of my squash plants, canna and elephant ears. Now we are having record breaking heat, so I'm celebrating! Usually we have had a hard killing frost by now, but it looks like we will escape a September killing frost. It may happen the first week in October, but don't know yet. Theresa, your comment in correct. Lot's of work ahead. I have to dig every single canna and elephant ear. It takes a whole month of spare time to dig them and store them all.

It's sad to hear about the Windmill palm. I will try to cover mine next coming winter. I want to try needle palm again. I have one that still has one green spray left. I bought a Bird of paradise today from Lowes. I wonder if it could be covered and be inground in zone 6. I have a basement where my house plants overwinter, in case I can't put it sheltered outdoors. We are getting a freeze (30 F ) tonight. It's rare for this to happen this late here. I brought everything in that was tender. I saw some crates behind our KMART that look useful for future shelters, I am going to try and snatch them up. They are not your run of the mill wood crates. Arctic tropical, what do you fill your raised beds with? Cactus soil mix or a blend you have made?

scully931, you will be very happy with growing Abyssinian bananas. They grow so much faster and taller than basjoo or any other musa(at least in my climate where we have cool nights and hot days). I also grow musa 'Texas Star' which rivals the hardiness of Basjoo, but it never gets that tall. I dig the ensete plants up in the Fall and pot them in 15 gallon pots. You can either cut them off to 3 foot stumps and place in an unheated, unlit room in your basement if you have one, or keep them growing near a sunny window, as long as you spray them with insecticidal soap for spider mites. I have 5 red ensete banana plants in my living room right now (I have a two story A-frame house with lots of windows). The tallest is 12-13 feet high and so it reaches up to the second story of the room. Good luck! Kevin