08-31-12 Genus Musa

Or, in simpler English, bananas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana  for those who want to learn more)
 
I mentioned in my last post that one of my banana trees ( a misnomer since bananas really are herbaceous plants with cells full of water, not wood) had produced a flower.


 I love banana flowers for their beauty and also because they are so intriguing in the way they open one bract (that thing that looks like a very large, red, petal) at a time, revealing a whole "hand" of small flowers mounted on top of the future banana.

I also happen to be very partial to bananas because, many moons ago, when I first arrived in Kibbutz Matzuba, in Galilee, my first job was in the bananas fields where, through a number of seasons, I got to harvest tons of the fruit, unload them at the packing plant and, in spring, I got to plant thousands of new banana "trees".

Those were the late 60s, I was young, loved the adventure of new experiences and, in the early 70s, I met my future wife (My future wife? My present wife? My imperfect wife? My conditional wife? My imperative wife? What tense do I use that's not gonna get me in trouble?)there. So that I have a lot of nostalgic attachment to the place and the plants.

Many moons ago in a banana field in Northern Israel.

As I traveled , I also got to see how ubiquitous and useful banana plants could be, not just for feeding people with a great self wrapped snack, but as a wrapper to cook food and, in Southern India, they serve whole meals on a piece of banana leaf that gets thrown in the street after use for the "holy" cows to eat.
A great way to handle dishes!

 When caught in a rain in Indonesia or Malaysia, I would see locals cut a large banana leaf to use as umbrella to be discarded after the downpour. No need to ever carry a " brolly" as my English friends call it.

But, all in all, the plant itself is very attractive, exotic looking and its flowers are simply amazing, especially when you get to watch their slow opening over the hours of the day. In my case, it is now bordering on obsession.

When we moved to this place, 28 years ago, I planted bananas and bamboo to  recreate that Asian atmosphere. The little kids in the neighborhood who used to play hide and seek in it, nicknamed it "The Jungle". For them it was.

More pictures:

I am in luck right now as I found a second flower this morning but one from a different species, with red bananas:

Bees:they seem to have recovered from last week's assault and are going about their business while stashing away the extra food I supply them with. 
  Right now, their main complaint is from the heat since the thermometer has gone up again. This afternoon, some of them were "bearding" or hanging out in clusters outside the hive because they find it too stifling inside.