British Columbia: Fruit bearing bananas in lower mainland/Vancouver Island

Hi all,
I'm new, so please forgive me if I'm asking something already answered.
I'm lucky enough to be building a greenhouse, and would like to get hold of some good-tasting, fruiting bananas, as well as a mango plant/tree. I've heard that the dwarf orinoco is a good banana, and could even go outside. The mango would be in the greenhouse. Short of importing from the US, any suggestions as to where I could get these plants in BC or Canada?
Many thanks.

 

Dwarf Orinoco is a good starter banana and definitely hardy to your zone, and although it's tasty, it's not a classic dessert type - it's more of a cooking banana, and has a mildly starchy flavour until it's almost overripe. If you want to try the fruit before you commint to a plant, they're sold as Bluggo and Horse Plantain in most oriental and latin supermarkets. If you're looking for a tasty and smallish dessert banana, try a Dwarf Red (one of my faves - red skin, yellow flesh, and creamy texture). If you like the texture and flavour of grocery store bananas, you can also try Dwarf Cavendish - but that one would have to stay in the greenhouse, because it doesn't get along as well with frost.

I'd start by asking around the botanical gardens - UBC is a good start. They may have fruiting cultivars in their collections and be willing to part with pups, and if they don't they generally know a garden that does. For the Dwarf Cavendish and its cousin the Super Dwarf Cavendish, these are often available as "tropical foliage" plants at Home Depot and Revy, especially in Vancouver. However, watch the tags carefully because the big box stores also sell Musa basjoo, which is an ornamental banana, not an edible. After that, you're going to have to look to the States for pups. Agristarts, which sells microcultured (cloned) plants is a reputable source for a wide array of cultivars, but you have to buy 72 or 74 plants at a time if I recall correctly, so you'd need to look for somebody to share the order with.

 

Thanks for a great answer! I'll contact UBC and see what they have.

Bruce

 

Bruce,the best way to get bananas is to buy them at a reputable store.I've seen yellow ones in some unusal places{Safeway,Save-On foods'Even Joes' Market in Tsawwassen,beleive it or not}The red ones you can find in any good asian store in Richmond.As for your greenhouse,consider selling it to your good friend Joe so he can grow his basil and tomatoes all year long.
Cheers,Joe Braico

 

Joe,
Great advice from a fellow Italian. I'll take a look around. And of course, if the people who buy our place don't want our greenhouse, it's your.
Bruce