Hi Stuart,

I have one in my Melbourne garden (a long but entirely credible story). Very curious as to who could be selling them -details please?
I also have Musa basjoo, sikkimensis and yunnanensis growing here. Like the M. laisi, they prefer temperate conditions.Cheers1

G'day Stuart,
there is a fella selling these in Parramatta, also very expensive. but i believe they grow quite readily from suckering `pups' sprouting from the base of the plant. that probably means the price will come down over the next few seasons.
rgds,
stix

Dear Stuart, Without even trying I have 9 points to make in reference to your blog- above. 1. If you think $315 is too dear, you obviously havn't been into a nursery lately- a nurserie’s greedy disposition allow for a mark-up of around 100-300%. 2. Ive seen Gymea lilly dearer than $315 and you can practically dig them out of the side road around sydney and there are other similar rip-off examples esp. with orchids, bamboo, Wollemi pine and Japanese Maples which are actually way crappy compared to Musella. 3. I think your comment "surely it was a typo" was typical of someone who has never imported plants into Australia. Ive had two friends seperately try to bring Musella into Australia- legitimately- and even though their plants died in Quarantine they still had to pay over $4 grand in fees for a plant which they never received? So would you take the risk for the general Australian public -and pay $4 grand for a plant that you never actually receive? judging by your patchy blog-above, I dont think so. 4. I think N.S.W, S.A, ViC, ACT, and potentially TAS make up more than just 20% of Australia. Esp. population wise, so there’s no need to exagerate 5. To the contrary to your misinterpretation, availability of Musella has, nothing at all, to do with climate but instead to do with Govt. restrictions. Note: Musella would thouroghly enjoy growing, practically, anywhere in Australia- from Cape York to South-West TAS. 6.Theres a small bunch of desperados, who like you, think that plants should be aquired for next to nothing at any cost, even if it means importing awful diseases that Australia does'nt have, and so, some loosers have imported Musella illegally and cheeply, for their own desperate pleasure. Maybe you could ask them for a five dollar sucker at discount And let them just try sell you one because through DNA fingerprinting, their dodgey import will be found-out. In any case, a cheeply aquired illegal import of Musella would most likely land you a second-rate and diseased Musella speciman from USA. 7. Stuart, your just jealous that the most ultimate flowering plant, ever, in the whole universe, is not yet available, to you, in WA. 8.Once you buy this plant you never have to buy it again, and so, theres no need to be so anal because once you're speciman develops a number of offshoots, you can sell these to your mates for a small fee and make your money back as well as have the unbelievable pleasure of years of growing Musella. 9.Ironically it's your sort of 'on the cheep' thinking that will now allow Phillipino bananas into Aust- which will inevitabely crush the aussie banana growing industry.
Arguably, Gianni

P.S Apparantly the Musella lasiocarpa in Australia is far superior to what is available in the USA or generally on the world-wide-web. See web-site:
www.musellaaustralia.com
Arguably, Gianni