I'm curious what the "reputable company" is. Zone 4 seems to be pushing the conventional wisdom. You certainly could grow it as a container plant, but there may be other varieties people could recommend that might be better for containers. My one complaint with the basjoo is that the leaves are fairly thin and shred easily in the wind, whereas there are other types with sturdier leaves.

I don't know why they put it as a zone 4 plant. But it is a company with a very high rating with Gardenwatchdog.com (one of my favorite sites). If the basjoo's leaves shred easy then I probably shouldn't even try. Sometimes it is like living in a wind tunnel here. Prairie wind, I guess.

--Sophie

According to the new zone map, no part of IL is in zone 4 anyway. What county are you located in? I'm in the Chicago metro and have decided zone 6a as my zone (-7 is the average yearly low at O'Hare)

Here are my Basjoos a few days ago in a giant leaf cage
(Notice how they are 'tenting' and pushing up the plastic because of the warm temperatures in the cage):

{{gwi:405902}}

(The green in the cage is an old towel I wrapped around the upper portion of the pseudostem after the leaves compressed)

Go aheah and try it! Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions!

Here is a link that might be useful: 2004 Hardiness Zones Map

According to the USDA map, I live in zone 4 (really zone 4b). I live pretty close to Rockford and there is like this valley or dip and we get colder weather. So the zone map usually shows this little dip of zone 4 coming out of Wisconsin. I can still remember the year it was -28 actual temperature.
I liked your picture of your basjoos- if anyone ever creeps across your yard at night, they'll probably think there is some wierd people keeping guard out there.
I still may give one a try- why not?
--Sophie

Sophie- I definitely say 'go for it'.
I wouldn't worry about the shredding leaves on the basjoo - mine hardly do. It is a tough plant, and your best chance for outdoor growing. It will survive in a pot, too, although it is much happier in the ground. If you want to put it in the ground, you would need to get a decent sized plant into the ground as soon as it warms up, let it get established all season, then wrap it up for winter. If you're lucky, it would make a pup you could separate and bring indoors for winter.

Or you could pick another variety of naner and grow it in a pot and bring it in for winter.

s.

Weatherguy, what a contrast looking at this posted picture and the picture on your page.

I'm amazed that the basjoos are actually growing now inside the plastic!

Question: during this growing time right now, what's your LOWEST temperature (probably at night)? I'm wondering about what's a safe level for the plant to receive without re-freezing and "mushing up". :)

I've got 2 new pups from last year which are growing nicely in the greenhouse and I'm tempted to plant them and try your method of protection next fall.

My fear is, is that, while this year would not have been a problem temps wise, we "can" get as cold as -18C (0F) where I am. And those types of sub-zero numbers can last from a few days to maybe 2 weeks.

So I'm curious if I'd need to provide any other protection that what you show?

Oh, while I think of it. About what time of the year do you start your protection.

Also, do you put any type of anti-fungal stuff on the plant, roots, stem, before wrapping?

Do you only wrap when everything is dry? THAT'S my biggest worry is the wet thing. Here, in the fall, we usually get lots of rain in September. October can be nice, but we can also get lots of wet then too.

But since our palms are more cold tolerant, I don't usually protect them until mid to late December.

Thoughts? ):)p

I typed, typed, typed...out the whole message answering all your questions, and I accidently hit the back button and it was erased! AHHHH! LOL. I'm to frusterated to do it again right now. UGHHHHHH!

-Christian

I have a couple of Basjoo's also and the only thing I did for the winter was to take them out of their pots and throw them on top of the animal pens that are in our pole barn, we have cats that live out there so the temp never goes under 55 degrees.
I checked the plants the other day and I have new growth on them!! As soon as it gets warmer they will go into the ground. The Basjoo's are tough plants, as long as they are not asked to perform in our winters, and given some rest they make wonderful "seasonal" plants in our zone.