I've been growing Musa basjoo outdoors year-round in my Hunterdon County, New Jersey garden for about 8 years. Started with one, which has been pupping freely. They're close to the house. Late each autumn I cut them down to garbage can height. Fill each can with pine needles, and upend over stump. Each summer the bananas reach much higher than the first story roof, with immense leaves. Last year one culm flowered and set fruit. Research indicated this cultivar's fruits are not especially edible / tasty so I didn't sample any, merely felt smug about cropping bananas when my neighbors crop soybeans, hay, wheat, and oats. A friend in Sergentsville NJ who believes bigger is definitely much, much better when it comes to plants in his garden puts fencing about 8 foot tall around his M. basjoo, fills with oak leaves, and covers with plastic. His bananas easily reach 14 feet tall. No flowers / fruit. He has also wintered Musiella lasiocarpa over the winter. Another friend in Willingboro NJ also grows M. basjoo. Global warming? Judy in New Jersey where today's temperatures have edged over 60 degrees Fahrenheit, and I've opened those few windows where I never took the screens down last fall