Banana splits

Toby's passion for his Abyssinian banana is an expensive one – but he has a plan to make more plants for free...

- Toby Buckland

YOU know the cost of living is through the roof when pound shops sell penny chews for a quid (I'm here all week). But while we're helpless to prevent price hikes for fruit gums, at least there's one thing we can have for free: plants.

And thank heavens! My latest horticultural crush on lush purple and pink foliage is a bank-breaker, especially when it comes to the king of the crimsons', the Abyssinian banana (Ensete ventricosum) 'Maurelii'.

With a head-high trunk and huge paddle-shaped purple leaves, not only is this striking banana-lookalike the most arresting architectural plant, but it's also fast becoming one of the most expensive. In just two years, its value has rocketed from a reasonable £30 for a semi-mature specimen to north of £150!

“Over the long run, you'll save a fortune"