Q: With the mild winter we had, I never felt the need to cut my banana trees back. I have 4 stalks about 6′ tall that are now sprouting leaves. I did trim off the dead leaves to clean them up a bit. Should I let them be or cut them back now?

A: The “trunk” of a banana is really just a series of tightly wound leaves. New ones, plus the bloom stalk, emerge from the center. The reason most bananas don’t produce flowers is that they get frozen down to the base of the stalk each winter. You’s seem to be perfectly healthy! Fertilize in April and send me pictures of the bloom when it appears.