I've been watching closely and this is really something pretty neat. It sure looks odd though for the inflorescence to terminate the stem without any foliage! Here is a pic from today:

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I planted this clump on April 16, 2004. I received it in trade from Illinois. Almost exactly two years from planting to flower!

Do you guys provide any winter protection? Beautiful flowers. This is my first year to grow one! Here is mine that I purchased from a buddy through the mail...
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Cool! I just realized my Musella lasiocarpa is 2 years old, too. I was thinking they bloomed in the fall, though, after a cold blast. Apparently not :) Mine has made just one normal leaf so far after the spring wake-up.

seahorse

Very nice looking plant Austin. How come that guy isn't in the ground somewhere? I covered my plant only on really harsh nights its first winter. This past winter, no protection. My lowest was only 22F so not much to worry about.

The first set of bracts and flowers opened on April 15 Seahorse, so it was almost exactly two years to the day, from planting to flower. I received it as a pretty small pup so it was probably only a couple months old.

I googled Musella last night to see others in bloom and most of the pics of flowering stems had some leaves. My flowering stem does not have a single leaf. Interesting!

I made a mistake on my planting date. It was really planted May 16, 2004, instead of April 16. Instead of almost two years from planting to flower it was almost 1 year 11 months!

gaalan, nice picture. That is a very unusual banana. Aside from AeAe, that is even more strange. I do like the second picture. It seems that the banana can seem to differentiate which direction to grow the leaves, lol.

Congrats on the bloom!
Did you use alot of high nitrogen fertilizers? So far none of mine have bloomed after about 3 years, but lotsa pups. I feed a really balanced feeding 8-5-5(mostly organic). Maybe not enough nitrogen?(or maybe you just have a great banana climate!).
Kyle

How is the bloom coming? My yellow banana (pictured above) now has 2 fully extended leaves and another one rolling up. I'm thinking that I will love this banana!

Austin, I feel sure you will indeed like Musella! Great banana because of hardiness and size. Doesn't require lots of space like the bigger species and hybrids.

Tropicallvr, I fertilize only sparingly. When I do I use Peters triple 20 in water. The location of my plant is a long way from a water source too, so it has to exist mostly from rainfall. There were times though during September last year when I had to put a sprinkler on it and a nearby basjoo.

Here is photo from today....

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I didn't notice till looking closely, but the bracts are arranged spirally before opening. You can see it really well looking straight down on the flower. I'll post a shot of that in a bit.

Here is a pic from May 3 to show the spiral arrangement of the unopened bracts...pretty neat!

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Gaalan,

Great pictures! The flower of musella just can't be beat for its beauty and longevity. I am anticipating mine blooming later this year. The spiral arrangement of the flower is very unique and reminds me of a sea shell. Thanks for posting those pictures. Keep us updated throughout the month.

Austin

Believe it or not, I think my other largest trunk is now going to bloom! I was looking at it a while ago and though it does have several leaves, I think it is about to push forth an inflorescence!! The very youngest leaves on this stem have that "pre-bloom" stunted look and as I looked closer at the top of the stem I conviced myself that it looks a bit swollen. Have a look......

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If you look at the last picture of my current flower(one showing spiral arrangement) you can see the leaves a little of the one I think is trying to bloom. I can't wait to see if I'm right!

It sure does look like another bloom is on the way! Wow, you will have blooming bananas all season long! Aren't you lucky?!?

Finally that second stem has begun opening its inflorescence! This plant has far exceeded expectations! Here it is from today.........

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Curious how this one produced leaves prior to the flower and the other did not.

Gaalan,

Wow, you have some nice blossoms there. It's pretty cool to see two blooming on the same clump. From the look of things, yellow bananas pup like crazy. You will have plenty to plant around your garden or sell to others! Mine now has four leaves total and has about 1.5 feet of trunk. I'm expecting a nice flower a little later this summer.