Plant of the Week: Banana Plant

Bring a touch of the tropics to your garden with a spectacularly handsome banana plant. Team these lush, leafy plants with other tropical-look beauties such as bamboos, cannas or hardy palms to transport yourself to the Caribbean every time you step outside your back door.

There are two types of banana: gorgeous bronze-leafed Ensete ventricosum, and Musa basjoo which tolerates some frost so can be wrapped in fleece and straw and left outside for winter. You can also grow bananas in roomy containers to bring indoors. Mature bananas have been reported fruiting in the UK in recent particularly good summers – so keep your fingers crossed for plenty of sunshine!