Stunning!!! Makes me want to grab a Mai Tai and hang out there for awhile.

That banana look prehistoric! Love it...! How often/how much fertilizer and water do you give that Brug?

Beautiful Deanne ! To think I was actually there a few weeks ago...Everything looks Fabu to the max ! I can't wait to visit again. Well worth the interminable plane ride...

Kathy in Napa

That's so tropical it looks like an island resort...fantastic display!

I remember the time I planted a castor bean plant in a garden bed; when I dug it up in the fall the roots freaked everyone out because it looked like an enormous alien spider, lol.

Thanks everyone!!! Got to love that banana. Lately cars going down the street either slow down or stop to take a look at it. It's a pretty unusual plant for Zone 5.

Woody, You aren't going to like this answer, LOL - I feed my brugs a slow release granular fertilizer once a month and then after a week I start a twice a week 'pick-me-up' with a liquid feed. They can take enormous amounts of food. Watering, well in this 95 degree heat, the brug in the small pot needs water three times a day, the big ones twice a day. I water in the morning and then again at 3PM when the day's temps peak out.

Deanne

Spectacular, Deanne!

Everything is just beautiful.

(note to self...go feed the brug)

Saucy

I'm with Anita and the Mai Tais, lol! Your patience and dedication pay huge dividends, girl!
Brenda

I don't know what is more impressive that Banana or 'Charles'. [g] Tell me you don't have to water every container twice a day?! Just some, right? I can believe the large brug would be 3x a day, especially in this heat. Even though the banana and brug are the most prominent and catch your eye, every container and plant is pristine. Glad you are getting such pleasure from them this year. Will you be overwintering 'Charles' and the Banana again?

I also read somewhere that you were heading out to prune and I wondered...all your plants look so healthy, do you use alcohol on your pruners often?

My brugs are lucky to get watered 3 times a week! I have thrown slow release fertilizer at them a couple of times this summer and liquid feed fertilizer about 3-4 times :-) I think they are definitely destined for the compost this fall! What is the care and maintenance of that banana? Things with big, beautiful leaves appeal to me a lot.

Whoa, baby -- just how big is that banana now? It looks about 10 feet tall in those photos!!! Absolutely amazing, Deanne -- the devotion to achieving such beauty though is even more amazing -- it's like having a passle of kids at daycare -- I guess we could say it's Deanne's plantcare business... But the results are stunning.

Thanks for venturing out in the heat and swelter to get good shots -- I can't see the heat, LOL... but Im imagining it.

--cindy

Thanks everyone!

Cindy, Doug's estimated the banana is about 10 plus feet now and he's conservative. It really has gotten HUGE since this hot weather hit.

Woody, sad to say but the banana gets the same watering treatment as the brugs just not as much food. Just a slow release fertilizer a couple times a season and liquid feed a couple times a month.

PM there are only a few of the plants that require twice a day watering in the heat and I'll be back to daily watering as soon as this heat wave breaks. ~~ No I don't use alcohol when deadheading and pruning. I just work from the healthiest plants toward the ones that look like they might be getting problems.

Deanne

Absolutely stunning Deanne! Is the banana in the ground? All your hard work is sure paying off.

Michelle

Hmmm... I just scratched the banana from my list... :-)

LOL Woody! I think they can do well with less watering but I'd want to research it before making any recommendations.

Michelle, the banana is in a large pot. Here is a pic from June when you could still see the pots
{{gwi:175445}}

Deanne, I was just noticing your Physocarpus in bloom to the right of the Brug. Looking at the recent photo, I am wondering, is that the Physocarpus in back of the Joe Pye Weed? If so, it looks very tall. As tall as the banana and if that's 10ft, I am wondering what variety of Physocarpus it is. We were just discussing'Summer Wine' on the Shrubs forum and it is supposed to be a compact smaller version of 'Diablo' staying at 6ft x 6ft. I'm trying to decide where to move mine and I haven't seen any online information suggesting it gets bigger than 7ft or so.

Hi PM, yes that Physocarpus is as tall as that banana and brug. It's 'Diablo' and a HUGE monster of a shrub. I prune the heck out of it all the time and it still grows like a weed on steroids.

Deanne

I like my Summer Wine Physocarpus, it seems to be easy and no insect or disease problems. I'm relieved yours is the 'Diablo' just because that means I still have hope my SW will stay a reasonable size. I really like yours especially when it is in bloom next to that white fence.