Plant Calendar

Planting Time

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Description

A showpiece plants that'll draw comments! Ensete 'Maurelii', or the Red Abyssinian Banana, brings a sense of scale, colour and movement that few plants can match.

The huge upright leaves are deep green, flushed through with burgundy veins and topped off with fiery red edges that glow in sunlight. By midsummer, each leaf can be over 70cm long, creating an exotic focal point that instantly transforms any outdoor space.

This variety isn't grown for fruit, it's grown for impact. Whether you drop it into a jungle-style border, a large decorative pot, or a sunny courtyard, it delivers on style and presence.

From June onwards, it shoots up with astonishing speed, especially if you keep it well watered and give it a regular feed.

While it's not fully hardy, it�s easy to overwinter. After the first frosts, cut back the stem to around 20cm and store the crown somewhere dry and frost-free. Then in spring, watch it bounce back with renewed energy.

Borderline hardy, so in late autumn, allow leaves to die back and cut stem to 20cm tall, and bring somewhere frost free till following May. Keep dry, and new leaves should quickly emerge next year.

Supplied as an established plant in a 9cm pot, approximately 30-40cm tall, ready to plant out.

Please note that plants may a bit taller in summer when sent out as growth is rapid.

Top Tips

Water well during the summer months and protect from winter frost by bringing indoors.

Care Information

Under glass, grow in loam-based potting compost in full light with shade from hot sun - repot every other year, in spring.
In warmer parts of the country for outdoors grow in a sheltered position in humus-rich well-drained soil in full sun.
Keep well watered and protect from drying winds which can shred the leaves.
During the growing season water regularly and apply a balanced liquid fertiliser each month.
Frost tender, so foliage will be blackened. In frost-prone areas lift outdoor specimens before the first frosts, reducing the top-growth to the newest 2 or 3 leaves and cutting back the long roots.
Overwinter under glass in a frost-free greenhouse until all risk of frost has passed.

Delivery Information

Our experienced team at the nursery will always carefully package and send your plants nursery fresh in the perfect condition to thrive once you receive and plant them. Although most plants are extremely tough and will not be affected by all but the most extreme of weather conditions, we always avoid dispatching the most perishable plants if extreme frosts or heat is forecast. We also avoid dispatching orders over Bank Holiday weekends.

Please allow us 3-5 working days to dispatch your order. If you have ordered a 'pre-order' item, these will be sent out as soon as possible after the quoted dispatch date and we generally ship your entire order with any pre-ordered items. Once your order has been dispatched, we will send you an email with details on how you can track it.

We send most of our orders via a fully tracked courier service with Yodel. We will send you a tracking link as soon as your order has been dispatched. To avoid perishable items being stuck at depots and deteriorating, we will not require a signature on delivery, and we ask out couriers to leave your item in a safe place ad your delivery address.

*Please note, once your item has been delivered, we cannot be held responsible for loss or theft from your delivery address. If you have delivery instruction and require our courier to leave your item in a specific place, please let us know - there is an option to leave a message for the courier at the checkout.

For smaller and single-item orders, we may send these via the post with Royal Mail - Tracking will not be available for orders sent via this method.

**Please note, we cannot guarantee delivery on a certain day or time. Delivery to outlying postcode areas may take 1-2 days longer, dependent on your location.

For all orders, a small delivery fee of £4.99 will be charged or spend over £49.99 for FREE Delivery!

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