Our two Blood bananas, one is in bloom.
I was actually looking for a different ornamental plant, a relative of the bananas, the Abyssinian Red Banana (Ensete Ventricosum 'Maurelii'). The leaves of this tree are reddish, that's what got me attracted to it.
We were not able to find the plant we were looking for, but the owner of one store offered us instead a banana tree that has random streaks of red on its leaves. It looks different and interesting that we ended up buying a couple. Our quest for the Red banana was unsuccessful but we ended up bringing home something else. It's the Blood banana.
As usual, our new purchase ended up in the nursery for the time being while the upper garden is still suffering from prolonged drought. Plus, I am still unsure where exactly to plant them anyway.
A closer look at the banana flowers
In less than a month in the nursery, one of them began to bloom and developed fruits, just like commercial bananas. This however is an ornamental banana so the fruits are small, the size of one's fingers and are red. I asked mom to gather the seeds once the fruits mature, so we can try our luck propagating this plant from seeds.
My quest for the Abyssinian Red banana continues.
