Banana Shrub Magnolia Figo Care Guide

You need the banana shrub for a sub-tropical evergreen shrub to grow in the garden or a container. This outdoor plant has a blush of purple cup-shaped blossoms. The best part is the blooms have a sweet banana-like fragrance.

So, stay longer to learn how to care for the banana shrub here.

Plant Name: Michelia figo or Magnolia figo

Other Name: Banana shrub

Plant Type: Evergreen shrub

Native Areas: China

Light Requirement: Direct sun exposure

Watering: Moderate

Fertilizer: High phosphorus fertilizer

Toxicity: Non-toxic

Temperature: 65°F to 75°F

Propagation: Stem tip cuttings

Growth: 6-10 feet tall

Soil Type: Slightly acidic

USDA Hardiness Zones: 9-10

The Banana Shrubs That Belong to The Magnolia Family

The banana shrub is classified as the Magnolia figo, previously known as the Michelia figo. Another common name is the port wine magnolia. It belongs to the Magnolia family and is an evergreen shrub or a small tree.

The plant has an upright growth that grows with multiple stems, or you can train them to develop a single trunk with pruning. The shrub has dark green leaves covered with fine hairs on the lower surface.

New growth is also densely covered with the woolly hairs from the buds to young twigs. Hence, it creates a yellowish coloration, and the mature bark is gray-brown. Yet, while the yellowish-green leaves are attractive, the flower buds are most stunning.

The port wine magnolia has creamy yellow blossoms with maroon-edged petals. Yet there are two cultivars, one with maroon flowers and another with purple flower buds. These show fragrant blooms emerging in spring, but the petals drop quickly to the ground.

The scent of the flowers is like bananas or even a fruit candy smelled from a distance. After the flower buds fade, you see tiny red fruits.

Banana Shrub Care

You can plant banana shrubs as informal hedges or as a privacy screen on borders. The best part is you can mix them up with other shrubs. With its short stature and tolerance to shade, it works well as an understory plant.

When you plant banana shrubs for the scent, place them near a walkway, house windows, a garden retreat, or the patio.

The Recommended Soil to Plant Banana Shrub at Soil Line

An important thing to consider when you plant banana shrubs is the soil. The banana shrub can grow in large containers or in the garden. The plant also prefers being slightly root bound.

Hence, we recommend planting your nursery specimens root ball with soil line as with any other shrubs. Then provide them with slightly acidic soil if you have clay or chalk soil.

You can add a layer of peat moss to help raise the acidity. If the soil in your area remains wet, you need not worry, as it can cope with compact soil.

You can also add some organic material to the soil. Still, for container growing, we recommend well-drained sandy soil instead.

Lighting Needs For Banana Shrub

Another important consideration is the positioning of your banana shrub. While this member of the Magnolia family copes well in cooler climates, it still prefers full sun exposure with light shade.

The crucial thing is to provide your Magnolia figo with at least six hours of sun daily. Plants grown in too much shade will have fewer banana-scented blooms.

Still, in extreme heat, your plant can use shade to protect the floral stems and green foliage from scorching.

Watering Directions For The Broadleaf Evergreen Shrub

Whether grown in the sun in a mixed shrub border or in a container, new specimen plants need more water when young. After planting, water your young plants again once the water seeps into the ground.

Repeat the process up to five times to get the soil evenly moist. After three days of planting, ensure to water deeply again and then again five days after planting. The banana shrub develops a deep root system; you can water sparingly once established.

The plant is fairly drought-tolerant once it matures. For container plants, ensure enough drainage holes allow excess moisture to drain out to prevent root rot.

Temperature and Humidity

It helps to keep your banana shrub in warm temperatures to prevent damaging the flowering buds. The banana shrub can withstand temperatures of 65°F to 80°F.

The lowest temperature the evergreen tree can tolerate is 15°F, with the highest temperature being 95°F.

The plant can also survive freezing temperatures, but it will need some protection in some places.

Fertilizing For Banana Shrub Blooms

In early spring, you can add some organic matter to the soil for your banana shrub grown in the landscape. New growth emerges at this time of the year and will need a higher nitrogen content to develop those green leaves and cream-yellow blooms.

Alternatively, you can use a broad-spectrum fertilizer as well. Later in the season, with heavy rains during the growing season, you can give them a lighter feed. Use a fertilizer with potassium, like potash applied during the fall.

Pruning For a Rounded Habit Growth

The banana shrubs need pruning like any other indoor plant. Pruning banana shrubs helps to provide airflow and sunlight to reach all the foliage on the plant. Furthermore, it helps prevent transferring diseases from one plant to another.

The banana shrub is also a suckering shrub as it pushes out new shoots around the surrounding soil level. So, you must do a suckering habit pruning to remove them to keep your plant looking great.

Still, you can also remove diseased branches to prevent transferring diseases.

Propagating Banana Shrub

The best way to propagate your banana shrub is through stem tip cuttings with leaves attached. You can do this in summer by taking four-inch stem tip cuttings.

Then dip the cut end into a rooting hormone and insert it in a sterile potting medium. Keep the soil misted until the plant develops roots which should take up to six weeks.

Magnolia Figo Varieties

In the Magnolia figo genus, you find different varieties similar to the banana shrub blooms displayed here.

Purple Queen

Compared to the banana shrub with its creamy yellow blossoms, this one has red-purple flowered stems with dark green leaves.

Stubbs Purple

The tepals are purple, and these plants grown in a mixed shrub border has a compact growth habit.

Banana Shrub Common Diseases and Pests

The banana shrub’s common problems are leaf scorch, nutrient deficiency, or fungal diseases.

• When the leaves have brown spots, it can result from standing in full sun in extreme heat. For this reason, provide your banana shrub with direct sun in the morning with light shade in the afternoon. Also, ensure the plant receives enough water in the summer.

• Yellow leaves result from inadequate nutrition as the soil is too alkaline. So, if you see yellowish-green leaves, it can be an iron deficiency. You can add some organic material to lower the pH.

• Leaves with black spots result from a fungal disease where the humidity is high. You can treat it with a copper-based fungicide and remove diseased branches.

• The banana shrub has few pest problems, but you can find scales, caterpillars, and aphids feeding on the foliage. You can use a horticultural oil spray as a preventative measure.