GREEN-FINGERED gardener Julia Betty is totally bananas about a new fruit she has grown in the back garden of her home at Wraxall. Julia says this year is the first time the banana tree she planted nine years ago has born any fruit. And has put her success

GREEN-FINGERED gardener Julia Betty is totally bananas about a new fruit she has grown in the back garden of her home at Wraxall.Julia says this year is the first time the banana tree she planted nine years ago has born any fruit. And has put her success down to climate change - and the wet and warm summer of 2007.Julia said: "It sounds bananas as exotic fruits like these usually only grow in humid, tropical regions."I was ecstatic to find a small bunch growing on a tree that I first planted nine years ago. I kept the plant in a pot for three years and then decided it was time to put it in my garden. "I am quite green-fingered and popped the plant in homemade compost and gave it no real special attention, but it has thrived. It has produced six other plants too, so who knows I might have my own plantation in a few years!" Inspired by her visits to the Lost Gardens of Heligan, Julia is known locally for growing exotic fruits in her North Somerset garden which boasts five fig trees, a 15' palm tree and passion fruits to name but a few.She previously hit the headlines for her stunning Echium pininana, a foxglove like plant that grew so tall it reached passed her first floor bedroom window.Pictured: Julia Betty with her bananas.