The tallest (over 6ft) and thickest stalk of my Musa Basjoo (hardy banana) clump never did look good after last February's late freeze. I left it for awhile, hoping something would push out, but when the others started to grow and it didn't, I chopped it off where it felt solid, not mushy—at about 2ft. After that it did nothing and the others took off, so I forgot about it.
The bananas aren't really a major player in the garden anymore anyway. They're a left over from an earlier time, back when they were the tallest thing going. Photo from August, 2009... 
Yes, that is my garden and those big banana leaves are still in the same place, the garden has just changed around them. Hard to believe isn't it? Here's a closer-upper of the current situation. One of the smaller stalks is growing tall...
The other day I caught a glimpse of something a little odd behind it...
What's going on back there?
Interesting! It seems the "dead" stalk I cut back has decided to push out a bloom and fruit!
Too bad it's both hidden and the bloom is facing the house, it's incredibly (impossibly) hard to see.
Oh well, I know it's there and will be keeping an eye on it. Meanwhile the foliage is why I keep this plant around, odd placement and all.
In fact I planted a spare red banana—Ensete ventricosum 'Maurelii'—over in the same area earlier this spring, just to pump up the big leaf presence.
