Michelia figo Seeds | Sweet Fragrant Banana Shrub
LATIN NAME: Michelia figo
COMMON NAME: Banana Shrub, Banana Magnolia
Plant Profile
Banana Shrub (Michelia figo) is a dense, evergreen shrub in the magnolia family, native to warm woodlands of China, while it is grown for its fragrant flowers. Established plants reach around Three metres. For the gardener, the sum of these traits is a plant that is easy to live with.
Science & Biotechnology
Seed science, comparative botany and horticultural selection all touch on Michelia figo, a representative of the magnolia family with clear practical value. Banana shrub has a real and distinguished place in the research. In practice, its long garden history means the grower inherits a plant of known and dependable habits.
Uses & Benefits
Banana Shrub brings genuine presence to the garden and earns its keep across the growing season. Ecologically, banana shrub is a generous shrub of the garden. Its small, rounded, banana-scented flowers feed bees and many insects, and its fine, dense, glossy, evergreen growth gives a fine cover and a shelter to birds through the year. For a grower, banana shrub is an easy and rewarding shrub, and for a gardener of warm places it brings a banana-scented, glossy, evergreen shrub to the garden. Given the right start, it carries on with minimal intervention.
Michelia flowers are among the most fragrant in existence, perfuming temples and yielding absolute for fine perfumery; in southern Asia the flowers and bark have folk medicinal records.
Growing from Seed
Seed is the natural starting point for Banana Shrub, and the process is uncomplicated. Broadcast the seed thinly over a fine, free-draining compost, sieve a little more compost on top, and water with a fine rose. Move strong seedlings into individual pots, keep them in good light, and set them out when the weather and their size agree.
Our Take
Banana Shrub repays a little patience at sowing time with plenty of garden presence later.
Related Reading
Readers interested in Banana Shrub frequently explore these as well: