Probably the best Winter Hardy Photo Essay I've seen on here.

What is your average winter low temps?

What was the coldest winter low temp you saw last year?, and finally;

Does your ground freeze solid every winter, if so, how deep?

In SE Michigan, I've seen the bananas take off this year after a very severe and cold winter. We had absolute lows down to -4 F locally. They still made it.

Thanks for the compliment.

I don't know what the average low temps were. We had a 2-week span where we rarely got above freezing and had a ton of days in the mid-teens. That's pretty tame compared to Michigan, I know.

I'd guess that our lowest low was probably 15.

I don't know if our ground freezes. It must to an extent, but probably not very deep. That usually takes extended periods of cold, which we rarely have.

I usually take all of my maples leaves, spread them out over the beds, then cover those with banana leaves. I'm sure that insulates quite a bit.

I may post some other pictures later. I have other parts of my yard that I didn't take pictures of last winter... so had no comparison pictures to show here. Have lots of elephant ears, ginger, passion flowers, etc.

Great pictures- interesting contrasts!

Wow..Those are great pictures...I'm in Kelso, north of you in Washington...I see that you didn't even cover some of your bananas...Those that you DID cover, did you just cover them in clear plastic??..Did you put anything on the ground around the base of those bananas??...I'm not sure how to winterize my bananas yet...I appreciate your photos so I can see how you did it.

Thanks for the pictures...knotz

I usually cover all my bananas. However, I'm starting to get too many and it's kind of expensive the way I do it.

I buy bubble wrap tubing through U-Line. (See link below). I simply cut off the banana leaves and then slip the tubes of bubble wrap over the banana... like a sock. Then I tape up the top so no water gets inside. When it starts to warm up in Spring, I open up the top to allow for ventilation and cooling. Those bananas always survive at full height.

Last year the winter came on quickly and I wasn't really prepared. That's why you see some that are uncovered. I did try wrapping them with blankets, etc. It didn't work though. Those all died to the ground, but came back incredibly fast.

I always pile regular maple leaves around the base of the bananas and then pile the banana leaves on top of the maple leaves. It seems to work.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bubble Wrap Tubing