What a great picture!! Just goes to show what a hardy plant you have.
Christine

They definitely are hardy, but seem like they can get a little invasive when they pup, which probably helps with the winter hardiness. Mine survived -13 F this past winter with a thick layer of cypress mulch and I didn't lose one. In fact they all started to regrow from last year's main stems that were cut to about 8".

I love this new hardy banana.

I can see how they use the plant for its fiber. Not like a regular eating banana. It will be interesting to see how tall they get in Houston.

-14 killed all my Mekongs!

They didn't have much protection at all...gotta get some in ground pronto so they got a shot at being hardy!

Basjoo bit the dust too!

I have mine planted against the foundation in an area with good drainage so I'm sure that helps.

As a matter of fact, my basjoos and my dwarf orinocos also came back from the coldest winter in years.

The banana grows fast! Even before the leaf can decompose.

If I was you, I would move the banana away from that tree and before it gets bigger.

It looks like that tree is growing even faster then your Mekong Giant. It was not even there in the first picture !!! :)

The palm is just out of frame to the lower left in the first photo. I did dig the banana shortly after the second photo. Not easy to get out of the ground. About two week to recover from the shock of potting up into a 7 gal. I'll take it for the raffle this weekend. I'd say... think twice where you plant these Mekong Giant. It's getting a bit aggressive with the suckers.