Ensete Ventricosum or Abyssinian Banana - the plant of the subtropical world. Available in a rather fetching reddish tinge (Ensete Ventricosum 'Maurelii'). Ensete ventricosum is an evergreen Perennial growing to 6 m (19ft) by 3 m (9ft). It is frost tender. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist soil.