Bananas in bloom - warm weather impact on gardens

Could bananas be common in British gardens soon? Warmer summers and milder winters might mean new fruits appearing, while we say goodbye to some old favourites.

Peter and Emma Stav, tropical plant enthusiasts from Rayleigh in Essex, were astonished to see fruit finally grow on their collection of 200 banana plants after 15 years.

Peter, a 38-year-old school teacher, said: "I'm just absolutely amazed that it's happened."

Guy Barter from The Royal Horticultural Society said "heat-loving plants" such as olives, figs and apricots are excelling more, while traditional British crops like gooseberries and rhubarb are on the decline in some areas.

The chief horticulturist said: "The climate is getting warmer and bananas never used to flower 20 years ago. It would be a red letter day when the banana flowers."

The Musa Basjoo banana has always been famous for being able to survive UK winters, but the flower often needs protection from frost.

The Stavs have built walls around their plants to trap heat and create a "microclimate effect" for the colder winter weather.

Peter said: "Over the past couple of winters I haven't wrapped them up because they're nearly 3m (10ft) tall so it's very difficult to wrap them. This year due to the heatwave, the plant's actually fruited.

"You put one in the ground and you get another 10 come up. They split. They produce more and more and more."

Elsewhere in the East of England, a 76-year-old man from Suffolk was in "complete surprise" when his banana plant suddenly produced fruit for the first time.

Stephen Hind, of Pettistree near Wickham Market, bought the tree for his exotic garden a few years ago because "they just look good", and believes scorching temperatures played a part in bringing it to life.

TV presenter and botanist James Wong said the hotter UK temperatures has made it "very easy" to grow bananas.

He said: "It's sort of impossible to water or fertilise them too much. They're incredibly fast growing if they have that heat.

"If people live in a really cold or exposed area or in the northern half of Britain, they might wrap up the stems.

"That basically creates like an insulating layer that protects a pocket of warm air around the plants and stops frost from damaging their cells."

Wong, 45, has presented for BBC series' Grow Your Own Drugs and Secrets of Your Food.

He pointed out that Musa Basjoos are not really for eating.

He said: "It's basically like having a mouth full of ball bearings with half a teaspoon of banana on them."

He added that growing banana plants in the UK is not new for a "geek in the plant world", but perhaps still niche to the average person.

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