Man astonished after finding bananas growing in his back garden in London

Ripon Ray in his garden in Hackney, London with his fruiting banana tree Ripon Ray, a 42-year-old hobby gardener, expressed his astonishment at witnessing the tropical fruit grow in the heart of East London during this summer’s scorching heatwave. Until now, Ripon had never seen his banana tree bear fruit. He admitted that he was unsure about the variety of banana it is, but he couldn’t help but find the experience rather peculiar calling it “weird”. Reflecting on his gardening journey, Ripon shared: ‘We moved into Hackney over 10 years ago and I bought a banana plant at the time and put it in my garden. ‘Every winter I worry it’s going to die – the plant rots right in front of me because the winter is so cold. In the last couple of years, it’s survived the harsh conditions and grown bigger and bigger. The plant doesn’t require much attention”. READ MORE: Woman woke up to find her garden path stolen by brazen thieves in night [LATEST] His garden banana tree started producing fruit As a debt expert by profession, Ripon had almost resigned himself to the idea of treating the tree as a mere decorative element. Little did he know that this year’s scorching temperatures would bring about a delightful surprise. He said: “I was going through my garden and thinking it was getting too big. Then I saw there were bananas growing, there were two bunches of bananas growing on the tree. ‘When you think of bananas you think of Asia, Malysia, Singapore or the Caribbean, places with monsoons and tropical weather. Obviously thinking about it, global warming is playing a huge part – who would think London is a hub of bananas. ‘I’ve never had bananas growing in my garden in my life – it’s weird.’ Banana trees typically struggle to adapt to the British weather According to the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) website, banana trees typically struggle to adapt to the British weather and are advised to be brought indoors during the winter months. The RHS website adds: “Although banana plants rarely flower or fruit outdoors in the UK, they still make eye-catching foliage plants with their dramatically large, tropical leaves.” This article was crafted with the help of AI tools, which speed up Express.co.uk’s editorial research. A news editor reviewed this content before it was published. You can report any errors to readercomplaints@reachplc.com.