Saturday, July 7, 2012

See How They Grow - part 1


May 1st of this year I posted Yes We Got Bananas, June 24th I posted Mayday, Banana Down, Debbie the tropical storm took down the tree. Three times I had promised over the past 2 years NO MORE BANANA  POST.... Surprise!

I want to show you how bananas grow (trust me there is a reason) Above you can see the bananas at the top and the pod at the bottom. Each of the little lips you see on the stalk, should have been another hand of bananas.  The cool temps of 52 on one night made them start dropping so only 15 bananas.


 the pod hangs at the end and each day one or two of the leaves open wide and up under it are little yellow flowers that turn into bananas each day.

 Above is what they look like as they turn from flowers to bananas. Below is the pile of them dropping each day.

Bob chopped the tree down almost to the ground, leaving these beautiful stumps.


 When the tree fell we hung the pod on one side of the swing and the 2 hands of bananas on the other side, one to ripen the other to see what it would do.
to be continued.....

34 comments:

Susannah said...

Really interesting!! Can't wait to read the rest!!!!!

BlueShell said...

Oh...you do have bananas, after all...LOL
Bob Had a lot of work....And your photos are magnificent: I've never seen a banana tree!!!
Love, BShell

Unknown said...

Wow, how interesting to see how Bananas grows. Cool pictures. Have a great day!

Tina´s PicStory said...

wonderful serie! :)

DawnTreader said...

I find this fascinating. Before your banana posts I didn't know half of how bananas grow; well I did know they grow on trees (LOL) but had no idea what the flower looked like. You keep on posting, I want to know what happens...

SquirrelQueen said...

Oh no, it's sad to see all of those little blooms that will never be bananas. The bloom is so pretty but I really like your shot of the stump.

Kathy said...

I guess this means that yes, you have no bananas?

Ruth Hiebert said...

This is fascinating. I go to the store,pick up a bunch of bananas and never give it a thought as to how they grow. I am learning new things just by reading the blogs.

Tammy@Simple Southern Happiness said...

This is interesting, had no idea they were called "hands". I love the color of the pods and the little elongated flowers. You did a good job on the macro's! WOW!!

Will another tree grow from that stump? Was that the only banana tree you all had?

Unknown said...

Yes!!!!
We have NO Bananas!!
We have no BANANAS today !!!!LOL

Anonymous said...

Cool! Can't wait to see the continued.

Michaele said...

I had no idea! Thanks for turning this loss into a lesson.

Auntie sezzzzzz... said...

GRACIOUS! I never knew all which goes into the *making of bananas,* which I pick up in the super market!

Nor how lovely, some of the process is.

♡*♡*♡*♡*♡*♡
Gentle hugs,
"Auntie"
♡*♡*♡*♡*♡*♡

Christine said...

Alright already! Hurry up with the rest of the story!!!!

TexWisGirl said...

they really are neat - and odd.

Anonymous said...

How interesting and the stump is lovely. We eat a lot of bananas and now I'll think of your pics when I have my cereal! Remembering you and your upcoming surgery in prayer. Hope your weekend is pleasant.

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

Very cool- last time I saw a banana tree, I was about 8 years old and lived in the Panama Canal Zone.

Scott Law said...

Very interesting. We had a banana tree near our hooch in Vietnam back in the 60's, but I never watched them all this close. I was kind of busy with other things. Thanks for the banana education. I look forward to more.

George said...

I don't want to wait to see what happened next. This is a great post and I want to kno more.

Liz said...

Very informative, Sandra!! I'm glad you managed to have some bananas.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Sandra, I sorta "knew" you wouldn't be finished with banana postings. These are among my favorite fruit so it was interesting to "see" how they grow.

My Mind's Eye said...

I cannot imagine having bananas in my back yard...I have one every morning on my Cheerios.
Hugs C

Rose said...

This is really interesting....enjoyed seeing it.

Ann said...

Very cool. I had no idea that bananas started out as a flower. What a shame that he had to cut the tree down and that you lost so many to the cold temp

Deb said...

Cant wait to here the rest great photos

Inger said...

Both places I lived in in Los Angeles had banana trees in the garden. The one in our garden was so tall that it was difficult to see what was happening to the fruits. The other tree, which was more like a bush, and full of bananas, was in the garden of my apartment, but I was young then and couldn't care less about such things. This was a very, very interesting post, I had no idea that all this takes place in order to make my most favorite fruit. Thanks for this.

Dee said...

I love this post...I have never seen a banana from the very beginning and the stump has great doodle lined in it...Once again..loved it and look forward to the rest. Are you going to end the posting by making a banana pudding?

S. Etole said...

Truly fascinating.

Marie said...

You are really making me miss my banana trees! Love your pics!

Angela said...

That is so cool! Are you going to plant another banana tree? I would love to have some apple trees and peach trees around our house but the deer would eat them all.

barbara l. hale said...

Wonderful photos of the banana trees. Love that photo of the stump!

Betty Manousos said...

cool!
i really enjoyed your photos and the banana lesson...i'm glad i learned something new.

stunning macros, sandra, very well captured as well.

Pamela said...

Sandra, this is amazing! I'm looking forward to more. Such an amazing Creator we worship!

Chatty Crone said...

What kind of tree was that he cut down? And I didn't know that bananas started so little - I don't think I ever thought about it before. sandie