Arizona is bananas?

Believe it or not, bananas have been grown in Arizona off and on throughout its colonial history, particularly when the Spanish arrived and when Mexican families moved to this region. They are most often found growing in protected courtyards where they can get some sun, but are protected from the frosts and wind.

While bananas can grow back from a hard frost, if you want fruits, you will need to protect them as it takes over a year’s period (sometimes longer) for flowering and fruiting to finish its cycle.

The banana is an edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus Musa. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguishing them from dessert bananas. Bananas grown at home and picked fresh are far superior to anything found in the grocery store, as is often the case with tropical fruits. One variety called “blue ice cream” actually tastes like ice cream!

The fruit is variable in size, color, and firmness, but is usually elongated and curved, with soft flesh rich in starch covered with a rind, which may be green, yellow, red, purple, or brown when ripe. The fruits grow in clusters hanging from the top of the plant. Almost all modern edible seedless (parthenocarp) bananas come from two wild species – Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana. The scientific names of most cultivated bananas are Musa acuminata, Musa balbisiana, and Musa × paradisiaca for the hybrid Musa acuminata × M. balbisiana, depending on their genomic constitution. The old scientific name for this hybrid, Musa sapientum, is no longer used.

If fruit is your goal, plant bananas in a protected location. Courtyards are ideal since they help protect from both frost and wind (high monsoon winds can really beat up the large leaves of bananas). Plant in well-amended, but well-draining soil, keep moisture even, and feed regularly with a balanced organic fertilizer.

The blue ice cream banana

While banana plants appreciate afternoon shade, some sun is ideal if you want your plants to fruit well. But when they fruits emerge, it is best to create some shade over them so they don’t turn black.

There are a few tropical fruit tree nurseries in Tucson and Phoenix: Phoenix Tropicals, Tropica Mango, Shamus O’Leary’s Tropical Fruit Trees, and Tucson Tropicals. Consult them on varieties.