Seed Planting Bonanaza & Happy Canada Day

Right before finding a job in Calgary I purchased a bunch of seeds online.  They arrived a few weeks before I left so I didn't have the opportunity to start them but I did take them with me.  Now that I have a balcony garden up and running I figured it was about time to fuel my tropical/rare plant addiction.

Now I didn't start all of my seeds, but there are seven varieties.  Two were impulse purchases I made while getting the pots and soil.  These include Ensete ventricosum (labelled Ensete musa which doesn't exist) and Melissa officinalis (Lemon Balm).  My seeds from before the move are Musa velutina (Dwarf Pink Banana), Passiflora caerulea (Blue Passion Flower), Lycium chinense (Wolfberry, Goji Berry), Brugmansia versicolor (Fragrant Peach Angel's Trumpet), and Eucalyptus pulverulenta (Silver-Leaved Mountain Gum).

Now I'm really hoping these seeds sprout and do well.  The climate is Calgary is cooler than southern Ontario and a lot dryer.  I'll have to pay special attention to watering and if they heat doesn't seem like it's enough, I might have to get some heat mats and grow lights.

To my fellow Canadians, happy Canada Day!

Germinating Velvet Pink Banana (Musa dasycarpa formerly Musa velutina)

Source: http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/potd/musa_velutina2.jpg

    The lovely Musa dasycarpa really stands out for me.  There are other bananas with pink flowers, but this one also has bright pink fruit!  Better yet the fruit is very sweet and edible, although filled with seeds.  This species is also more cold tolerant that other bananas.  It's definitely not the hardiest but can survive temperatures down to -12C (USDA zone 8a).  It even stays relatively small and only grows to about 2m in height.

    This species was originally referred to as M. velutina.  It was thought to be discovered in 1875 but it turns out it was actually described 8 years earlier in 1867.  The first person to discover/describe the plant generally gets the naming rights, so the proper name is Musa dasycarpa.

    This is the second species that I've tried previously but couldn't get to germinate.  I think the issue was heat.  I have found a lot of conflicting information on germinating these bananas.  I'm going to try using moist compost and planting each seed about 1/2 cm deep.  Allegedly they like temperatures between 21C and 25C with a day/night fluctuation.  People keep recommending this but if they're not getting results I don't know why they still try it.

    There are other theories that seeds from bananas that ripen in warm weather germinate quickly (2 weeks) with heat. Those that ripen in cooler weather germinate more slowly (2 months) and heat doesn't help.  The seeds I ordered would have been collected in the summer.  I've always had luck germinating bananas with heat so that's what I'm going to try.  Wish me luck!

    The next species up is Pride of Madeira (Echium fastuosum).