Q: I have the offspring of a banana tree that came from my great-grandparents’ back yard in South Carolina. I planted it in my yard in 1989. It came back every year with more banana trees but no fruit. Last month we were surprised to see flowers on the banana tree. Now it has three rows of bright green bananas with pink flowers on the ends. We need to know when the bananas are ready to harvest.

A: Bananas are harvested three months after the bloom stem flowers. Unless we have a really long autumn, I doubt the little bananas will grow big enough to taste like much. Enjoy the spectacle, taste the fruit if you want, but don’t expect to make any banana pudding from your heirloom plants.