Visitors to Falmouth's historic Fox Rosehill Gardens might be surprised to see a “confused” banana plant bearing fruit this week.

The plant, which is tucked away towards the back right hand side of the gardens, sports two bunches of tiny green fruits, alongside a swollen orange flower.

A mild November, heralded by some forecasters as one of the warmest on record, is partly to blame for the plants late fruiting - although that's not the whole story.

Claire Vickers, from Trebah Gardens, said the unexpected flowering may be down to the plant's origins.

She said: “We have had such a mild autumn and those plants that have come from the Southern Hemisphere originally, they get confused, they get amnesia and they think 'hang on, this is when we normally flower'.

“It tends to be particularly things like banana plants, which are native to countries on the other half of the world, where they would be going into their summer at this time of year.

“Our climate has given them this false impression that it's actually getting warmer rather than getting colder - It's confused, bless it.”

Fox Rosehill Gardens, off Melvill Road, is maintained by Cornwall Council and is open all year round.

For the full report see this week's Falmouth/Penryn Packet.

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