How-to Guide
How to Grow Hardy Banana (Musa basjoo)
The short answer
Musa basjoo is the hardiest banana, grown for its bold tropical foliage rather than fruit. Its rhizomes are cold hardy to about minus 10 F when properly pruned and mulched, and it can survive to around minus 20 F with heavy winter mulch. In USDA zones 5 to 8 the top growth dies back to the ground each winter.
To overwinter in the ground, after frost kills the leaves cut the stems back to about 2 feet, wrap the remaining stem with burlap, bubble wrap, or plastic, and pile a thick, wide mound of mulch over the base — going up as well as out so the ground doesn't freeze. In the coldest areas, or to try for a bloom, grow it in a pot and bring it indoors before frost.
Hardiness
- Most cold-hardy banana; rhizomes hardy to about minus 10 F pruned and mulched, to about minus 20 F with heavy mulch.
- In zones 5 to 8 the top dies back to the ground over winter.
- Grown for foliage — outdoors in cold regions it rarely fruits.
Overwintering in the ground
- 1Cut back — After frost kills the leaves, cut stems back to about 2 feet high.
- 2Wrap the stem — Wrap the remaining stem with burlap, bubble wrap, or plastic.
- 3Mound mulch — Pile a thick, wide mound of mulch over the base, going up and out to keep the ground from freezing.
Sources
Reviewed 2026-07-18. We cite university Extension, government, and established horticultural sources — and never invent pesticide rates or dangerous treatments.
- NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox — Musa basjoo — Most cold-hardy banana; rhizomes hardy to about -10 F pruned/mulched; top dies to ground in zones 5–8; cut to ~2 ft and wrap/mulch
- University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension — Hardy Banana — Survives winter to about -5 F without protection or -20 F with heavy mulch; grown for tropical foliage