Couple's plant goes bananas
A Shropshire couple are going bananas after a two-foot high plant bought for £9.99 has grown into a 7ft monster, which has taken over their conservatory.
It has sprouted more than 90 green bananas - turning their Broseley home into something resembling a botanical garden.
Bryan and Joyce Cox, of Owen Terrace, Duke Street, are astonished a plant more suited to the tropics has thrived in the temperate English climate.
Mr Cox, 58, a self-employed shot-blaster, said: "I've dabbled in gardening for a few years and bought a banana plant at B&Q in Telford Shopping Centre two years ago.
"We've been abroad on our holidays, seen them growing and decided to buy one and see what happened.
"We got nothing at all in the first year, but a month ago it started putting up a big purple flower.
"It's got massive green leaves and has grown to a height of 7ft right up to the ceiling of our conservatory, which means we can't use the fan.
"The flower opened up and inside were dozens of little green bananas. There must be about 90 of them now and they are still coming out."
Mr Cox said he had no idea whether his crop would ripen and become edible.
"It's awesome," he said. "I had no idea it would grow so big. There were no real instructions with the plant. All I did was keep it watered every day.
"It's resting in a pot on the heated floor of our conservatory, which has been on all the time."
Martin Ford, Shropshire Star gardening expert, said banana plants were becoming increasingly popular in the UK, largely thanks to them being featured by gardening programmes on television.
"They are used a lot for dramatic foliage effect by people who want to create a sub-tropical look," he said.
"We've got all the summer months ahead of us and there is a good chance that these bananas will ripen if we have a repeat of last year's sunshine.
"Once you harvest the fruit, you have to cut the whole thing right back to the ground again."
By Peter Johnson
