The Bamboo Thread

[Merlyn]

And another one bites the dust!  I had to take out the Bambusa Guangxiensis, which was definitely NOT a "Dwarf."  As you can see from the below photo it was already over 35 feet tall and 3 inch culms, roughly 2-3x the "typical size."  As I noted in the other ID request thread, Sam Hudon at Tropical Bamboo positively confirmed the ID.  He said that the nickname "Chinese Dwarf" is really because it's commonly used in Australia as a hedge.  If you top them at 6-8' (or so) then it tends to grow a large number of small diameter culms and a lot of very dense leaves.  This makes an awesome privacy hedge, and it probably would work great for me as a 12-15' tall hedge...IF I went and topped the culms regularly.  In this spot though, it has a lot of stuff in front of it that would make it impossible to put in an A-frame ladder and go prune culms.  So down it goes!  These were remarkably heavy due to the large number of leaves and a recent rain.  I'll have to remember to always prune culms when it has NOT rained recently.

[Merlyn]

And here's a good example of why it's critical to get EVERY piece of culm when removing or transplanting a bamboo.  I took out the Seabreeze/B. Maligensis clump on May 22nd, and 2 months later a couple of new shoots popped up!  There were two tree roots off to the side of the clump, and apparently two pieces of culm were growing out under the roots.  So when I pulled out the clump there were a couple of pieces about 4 inches underground.  These were basically sliced in half lengthwise and still grew.  I outlined the location of the old oak root below...

[Merlyn]

Here's the 6 foot diameter hole from taking out the Bambusa Guangxiensis.  The bigger culms had started growing downward and then curving around the bottom and out before coming up to break the surface.  So I had to dig down 3 feet to get all the culm pieces.  The area circled in red is a crisscrossing mass of culms.  I read somewhere how the Kanapaha Botanical Gardens workers described removing culm cuttings of Bambusa Textilis "Kanapaha" for sale.  They said it was like cutting 2x4s underground, but you didn't know where the 2x4 was or which way it was going.  That's totally accurate.  You might think you are cutting through one culm across the diameter, but in reality you might have hit a different one lengthwise, or be cutting through 3 different ones going in completely different directions.  After I removed the main visible chunks of culm, I ended up filling an entire wheelbarrow full of subterranean culms.  Any of those could have easily resprouted...I think I'm going to end up removing several more "big boos" this summer...

[Merlyn]

Apparently I'm in a boo-killin mood!  I took out my last clump of Bambusa Eutuldoides Viridi-Vitatta (Asian Lemon) and my clump of Bambusa Oldhamii "Shoot Production" this morning.  I decided that I liked the idea of the bright yellow culms of the Asian Lemon, but the leaves were small and kind of a weakish light green even when pretty heavily fertilized and watered.  So it always looked kind of unhappy, despite growing rapidly.  It also didn't work well next to a pathway because of the incessant growth of low branches.  This makes for a good, dense screen...but a nearly weekly trimming job to keep the path open. 

I actually really like the Oldhamii "Shoot Production" but I planted it back in a nearly inaccessible spot between two Arenga Engleri and a Pindo.  It has nice deep green medium-large leaves and green culms, and seems to grow in a reasonably tight clump and very vertical.  But I'm now targeting stuff that is under 20' and 1" diameter and this already has 2-3" culms at only 18 months from a single culm.  Here's the clump I removed, there were about 3 or 4 additional shoots underground.

[Merlyn]

And just to prove that I'm not trying to make this thread about killing boos...I planted a Gigantochloa sp. "Malaysian Black" this evening, in the spot where there used to be a Lako.  It's in one of the coldest areas in my yard, it saw 24.4F last January.  But Lako defoliated and survived, so hopefully this smaller black culm version will too!

[akaranus]

hot spring and summer making oldhamii start month before usuall poping out..

[JohnAndSancho]

Can y'all identify this one? It's growing outside Sancho's vets office. 

[Allen]

I keep all my bamboo in pots and it does great.  Here are some pics.  All are on drip.  Been doing pots for 6 years now.  I use Spectabilis and Bissetti dwarf

 

Edited August 13, 2022 by Allen

[JohnAndSancho]

On 8/12/2022 at 4:15 PM, JohnAndSancho said:

Can y'all identify this one? It's growing outside Sancho's vets office. 

Bump. @Merlynyou seem to be the bamboo guru. 

[Merlyn]

@JohnAndSanchoI am far from a bamboozle guru, my experience only goes back about 2.5 years.  I researched a lot about Bambusa and Dendrocalamus, but know almost nothing about the runners.  My experience so far is really in buying boos that are way too big for the space available and then having to spend a week digging them out and disposing of them.  Each.  Maybe more than a week each.  But I did discover that culms explode like gunfire when you put them in a bonfire!

Anyway, I digress.  If your boo is in a temperate area, with lows of 15F or higher, then it could be a clumper like Bambusa Gracilis.  It's probably too small and too fine of leaf size to be any Dendrocalamus or Gigantochloa.  There are some other Bambusa that are small with fine leaves and small diameter culms.  But Gracilis  is the most common small one.  The big space between culms makes me think it is a runner, because clumpers typically sprout a new culm about 1 to 3 inches away from the previous culm.  A foot or two spread is u usual for a clumper, and ones like Gracilis are known to be tight clumpers.  So I would guess it is a runner, maybe a Phyllostachys li,e one of the skinnier Mosos.

[JohnAndSancho]

20 hours ago, Merlyn said:

@JohnAndSanchoI am far from a bamboozle guru, my experience only goes back about 2.5 years.  I researched a lot about Bambusa and Dendrocalamus, but know almost nothing about the runners.  My experience so far is really in buying boos that are way too big for the space available and then having to spend a week digging them out and disposing of them.  Each.  Maybe more than a week each.  But I did discover that culms explode like gunfire when you put them in a bonfire!

Anyway, I digress.  If your boo is in a temperate area, with lows of 15F or higher, then it could be a clumper like Bambusa Gracilis.  It's probably too small and too fine of leaf size to be any Dendrocalamus or Gigantochloa.  There are some other Bambusa that are small with fine leaves and small diameter culms.  But Gracilis  is the most common small one.  The big space between culms makes me think it is a runner, because clumpers typically sprout a new culm about 1 to 3 inches away from the previous culm.  A foot or two spread is u usual for a clumper, and ones like Gracilis are known to be tight clumpers.  So I would guess it is a runner, maybe a Phyllostachys li,e one of the skinnier Mosos.

I know nothing about bamboo other than pandas eat it. I just saw them around my dog's vets office and thought they looked cool. And they obviously survived Snowmageddon/Winter 2021 here in Texas because these weren't landscaping plantings. 

[Hillizard]

Here's a color variant of x Thyrsocalamus liang (aka 'Thai Silk Bamboo,' formerly known as Bambusa nana) that I got from a Florida grower. Based on both molecular and morphological evidence, the parental species are likely Dendrocalamus membranaceus and Thyrsostachys siamensis. Looks tropical and does well in my 9b yard. Has to be one of the most tightly-clumping, non-spreading bamboo I've been able to grow here (see photo of a new shoot). I transplanted it from the ground back into a pot so I could move it to shade some other plants that need sun protection.

[Merlyn]

@Hillizardcan you post a photo of the whole plant?  I had been considering some of Tropical Bamboo's "x Thyrsocalamus liang" for a spot, but the one I want is the one with long drapey leaflets.  Apparently there's a "Bambusa Nana" with more straight horizontal leaves.  If yours has grown out like this photo then I should definitely buy some once it's available:

 

[Hillizard]

5 hours ago, Merlyn said:

@Hillizardcan you post a photo of the whole plant?  I had been considering some of Tropical Bamboo's "x Thyrsocalamus liang" for a spot, but the one I want is the one with long drapey leaflets.  Apparently there's a "Bambusa Nana" with more straight horizontal leaves.  If yours has grown out like this photo then I should definitely buy some once it's available:

 

Merlyn: That bamboo nursery you listed is the original source of my x Thyrsocalamus liang. The leaves are definitely "drapey." Below is a picture showing more of my plant. I dug it out of a clump of 5 bamboo species it was growing among in my yard and potted it late last year, so it's still adjusting to that change. Also, the 10-day, triple-digit heatwave we had this summer scorched some of the top leaves. With Florida's higher humidity, you shouldn't have that problem. It seems a bit borderline in my climate but is an attractive hybrid. I may keep it trimmed to below the roofline of my house.

[Merlyn]

@Hillizardthanks for the pics and the info!  I recently "downsized" my boo collection (as you can see from some of my previous posts) and a super-tight clumper seems like a good choice.  Mine have all been looking a bit ragged since hurricane Ian, it's only rained one day since!  We typically get May and October droughts, so it's not too unusual to see 80F and 50% humidity instead of 75-99% humidity...

[Merlyn]

I recently bought a couple of new boos and transplanted my Gigantochloa "Malaysian Black."  It was in one of the colder areas of the backyard and burned to the ground at 26-27F.  In that spot it would never make a consistent sound/sight block, so I moved it to the side of my walkway on the East side.  The spreading top should be nice over the top of the pathway area.  It's next to a Dypsis/Chrysalidocarpus Lutescens clump that also got burned almost to the ground:

Along the front walkway I've tried a couple of Cocos and Hyophorbes, it's just too cold and exposed for them to survive long-term.  Bottles, Spindles and an Indica all died in the corners, defoliated in the winters followed by crown rot.  So on the NE corner I planted a Bambusa Textilis "Ladyfinger" aka "Richard Waldron" that I bought from Beautiful Bamboo at the Leu Gardens sale.  It's supposed to be a 10' max 0.25" diameter culm plant with small leaves, but should be totally hardy there:

In the center hedgeline in the backyard I've lost 3 or 4 plantings of Viburnum in the same spot.  There was an oak tree in this spot so I'm pretty sure it's a root rot problem.  I planted a Dendrocalamopsis Variostriata back there.  This is listed on Tropical Bamboo as a 13' plant with 1" culms, a very tight clumper with a slight "V" shape, draping tips and dense leaves to the ground in shade or sun.  It's only listed as hardy to 28-29F, but TB thinks it's a variety of Multiplex...which is hardy to about 18F.  So I'll find out if it'll make a good long-term sound and noise break in that area:

In the SW corner I had a Gigantochloa Luteostriata "4447" that was defoliated in the December and January freezes.  This wasn't a particularly horrible freeze here, so it's also clearly not going to be a good sight/sound block in that corner.  I moved it to the NE corner and replaced it with a Bambusa Glaucophylla "Green" aka the non-variegated form that used to be called B. Heterostachya.  Glaucophylla green is supposed to grow 15-20' tall and 0.75-1.5" diameter but still fairly dense and bush-like with 25F hardiness.  Here's the new Luteostriata spot:

I'm also going to try B. Multiplex "Fernleaf" from Tropical Bamboo.  This is a 10-20' tall plant with 0.5" culms and tiny fern-like leaves.  Supposedly it loses the "fernleaf" characteristic if grown more than 10' tall, and the leaves revert to more typical Multiplex form.

[Merlyn]

As with last year, I'm still revamping my selection of boos.  I planted a Dendrocalamus Brandisii Black in the NW corner in July 2021, and it was defoliated in January 2022 at 27.5F and burned to the ground in December 2022 at 28.2F.  Clearly this is a 10a boo.  It was also a very open clumper with 1-2 feet between culms.  This definitely wasn't going to work with a mature height of 50+ feet and 5" or larger culms.  It was still leafless/sproutless on Friday evening so I dug it out and trashed it.  The open clump made it a little easier to dig out, with some space between each culm underground.  It left a 6 foot diameter hole 2' deep.

This morning I removed another big boo, a Dendrocalamus Hamiltonii that I planted in February 2020 near the driveway.  This one has really nice big leaves and took about 25% damage at 27.5F.  It's a good big leaf big boo choice growing to 40-65' and 4-7" culms.  It is not, however, hurricane resistant:

This was about 40' tall at the time and only had 60mph sustained winds with some ~100mph gusts.  Remarkably it did a grand total of ZERO damage to the two Miatas and van hiding in the picture!  The entire clump fell over and I lopped off all the culms with a chainsaw and reciprocating saw.  Once I took off enough weight at the top it flipped back over.  It took about an hour to slice it up with a reciprocating saw.  This was a lot easier because I had a 12" Diablo carbide pruning blade...and because it hadn't really rooted back into the ground.  Here's the sliced-and-diced remnants:

[Merlyn]

And in its place goes 3 wheelbarrows full of dirt, 2 bags of generic "topsoil" to add some decomposing organics, and a Bambusa "Nana" aka x Thyrsocalamus Liang.  Supposedly it's a hybrid of Dendrocalamus membranaceus and Thyrsostachys siamensis, but has not been officially described.  D. Membranaceus (sometimes known as Bambusa Membranacea) is a 50' tall 4" culm fast grower.  Thyrsostachys Siamensis (aka Monastery Bamboo) is a 25-40' tall 1-2.5" diameter tight clumper.  Supposedly the hybrid is 25-35' tall and 2" diameter with branchless lower culms, a tight clumper, and hardy to around 25F.  We shall see.... 

On the Southwest side I had one big Viburnum die, and there were two others that looked sickly...so I ripped out all three and planted a Bambusa Textilis "RG Dwarf" in the middle of the hedgeline.  This is supposed to grow to 15-20' tall and 0.75-1.25" diameter culms, and is a fast grower and tight clumper:

[HtownPalms]

Unfortunately I don't have any interesting pictures yet but I have recently gotten very interested in bamboo!! I have been buying up a bunch of Bambusa multiplex "green hedge", "Alphonse Karr", "Silverstripe", and ""Golden Goddess". 

My wife and I bought 15 acres close to the Texas coast that doesn't have a single tree. So I have been buying the bamboo to not only give us some privacy but also a much needed wind break. Once the bamboo walls mature I am hoping to get more tender trees and plants to grow inside of my little micro climate. 

Unfortunately a second reason that I am growing more interested in Bamboo is because I lost almost my entire palm tree collection in the last two big freezes Texas experienced. I was a hardcore zone pusher. For now I figured that I would focus on other tropical looking plants and come back to palm trees later. 

I have spent a good bit of time on a few bamboo forums. Here (Zone 9a) I can only have marginal palm trees. On the bamboo forums I am down right tropical! Most of those members are in zones 5 to 7. They envy anyone in zone 8 and above because only those areas can have tropical clumpers. I am thankful for that because if I couldn't grow the non invasive clumping bamboos I wouldn't be growing any. 

[Merlyn]

So my Bambusa "Nana" aka x Thyrsocalamus Liang has decided to put up the first shoot...and it's a stout bugger!  This is roughly 3 months after I planted the single culm in my earlier photo.  It'll be interesting to see how this one develops!  Behind the Dwarf Namwah banana is my clump of Dendrocalamus Elegans.  It got defoliated again at ~28F with frost, but is roaring back this year with several new culms.

[Merlyn]

Here's a new addition to the yard!  In the backyard three large Viburnum died, so I replaced them with a Bambusa Glaucophylla Variegated (foreground) and a Bambusa Multiplex "Golden Goddess" (background).  It was getting dark so the photo is pretty bad.  Glaucophylla has some erratic temperature reports, and this is the coldest spot in the yard.  I hope it turns out to be hardier than a couple of ~27F defoliation reports I saw.  At 10-15' and densely shrubby this could be a hedge replacement:

[Merlyn]

@Scott W how does your Chungii "Barbellata" compare to the Gracilis clump?  I removed my regular Chungii clump because it was proving to be a very "open clumper."  I've read that the Barbellata version is a tighter clumper and tends to be just a bit more open than Gracilis.  I have a spot in the SW corner that could be ideal for Barbellata, as long as the footprint doesn't expand too rapidly.  Right now I've got about a 10-12' maximum footprint size, and would prefer it to stay under about 6-8' diameter.  I know Gracilis is fairly slow to expand in diameter, but I'm not sure about Barbellata.  Any thoughts or suggestions?

This winter had no serious cold fronts, even though we had a *lot* of consistently cool and cold weather.  All the bad freezes went 50+ miles North of here, so all my boos look great.  In a way I wish there had been one good cold front, so I could see which boos will make hardy hedgeline options.

On deck for planting this spring are:

• Bambusa Contracta - 15-20' tall 0.75-1.25" diameter, a dense hedge type with some bluish powder on the culms.  It's supposed to have somewhat cascading leaves and look similar to a small Textilis.  This will go into the SW hedgeline.
• Bambusa Multiplex "Alphonse Karr" - 15-30' tall 1" diameter, a coldhardy dense option with some variable height.  This one gets very "bushy" when mature.
• Bambusa Multiplex "Golden Goddess" - 6-12' tall 0.25" diameter, a somewhat spreading big shrubbery type.  I planted one last November and picked up another at the Leu Gardens sale from Beautiful Bamboo.
• Bambusa Multiplex "Rosa" - 5' tall 0.25" diameter, a small boo with reddish/pink culms.  This will go in the front yard to replace a Textilis "Ladyfinger" aka "Richard Waldron" that I plan to move to the SW hedgeline.
• Bambusa Subtruncata - 12-20' 1" diameter dark green culms with random stripes, supposed to be similar to Emeiensis but about half the size.  This will go into the SW hedgeline.
• Bambusa "Kenilworth" - 15' tall tiny blackish culms, possibly a small Textilis type.  This lost most leaves over the winter, but it's possible the 3g pot was too far from the sprinklers to keep healthy

Some options for my SW hedgeline are:

• Bambusa Chungii Barbellata (Baby Blue) - 20-25' 1.5" diameter, a hardy blue and white cane version.  This is supposed to be a tighter clumper than regular Chungii, and a "culm producing machine."
• Bambusa Eutuldoides "Basistriata" - 25' tall 1" diameter, a green culm version of the common "Asian Lemon."  Supposed to be a "prodigious" grower of new culms with dense branches to the ground.  I might avoid this one.
• Bambusa Dolichomerithalla "Doli Blue" - 25-35' tall 1.5-2" diameter, a tight clumper with spreading top.  This is supposed to grow leaves all the way to the ground in full sun.
• Bambusa Textilis "Albostriata" - 20-30' tall 1" culms, typical Textilis tight clumper with with white stripes on some culms
• Bambusa Textilis "Gracilis" - 20-25' tall 1.25" culms, tight clumper with bare low culms
• Bambusa Textilis "Purpurascens" - 25-30' tall, similar to Gracilis but with purple culms in full sun
• Bambusa Textilis "RG Dwarf" - 15-20' tall, 1.25" diamater maximum, a tight clumper and fast grower with cascading leaf tips
• Bambusa Textilis "Vietnam" - 20-30' tall, 1" culms, same as Gracilis but "fuller" growing per TropicalBamboo

Any thoughts on these for a hedgeline?  Ideally my solution would be tight clumping and <20' tall, based on the location of highway noise.  "RG Dwarf" or Contracta really seem like the ideal solution...

[Merlyn]

This afternoon I planted a Bambusa Multiplex "Alphonse Karr."  It was a decent sized 3 gallon pot that I bought from Beautiful Bamboo at the Leu Gardens plant sale last month.  I cut it exactly in half with a drywall saw, even though it was sending up one shoot already.  Generally it's a good idea to leave them alone while shooting, but I'm a rebel and did it anyway!    Peeking in from the right is a Bambusa Cerosissima that I planted last March.  These are is in the SE corner and should be a good 15+ foot sound & sight block along that edge.

[L.A.M.]

On 1/26/2021 at 9:49 AM, LouisvillePalmer said:

Bamboo is that one plant that immediately invokes feelings of the tropics, while being evergreen, fast, and an easy to grow plant. Given that there are over 1000 species of bamboo,  and their native ranges can go to very cold hardy zones, I wanted to see in what all ways everyone on here is using bamboo in their landscapes or even in what ways you have seen bamboo used elsewhere. I have seen tastefully done landscaping using bamboo in rectangular boxes, along with creating privacy screens or even just focus points for a yard.

Please post any pictures along with species name and hardiness zone to share with others to get inspiration on new ways to incorporate this great plant!

For fun, here is a map I found of the native ranges of bamboo!

I can't share photos because I don't know how to sync ones on my phone with ones on my PC. Nonetheless, I'm growing Arundinaria gigantea (river cane) in 18"*18" wooden planters to try to reproduce some to sell as an alternative to invasive bamboo and restore the decimated canebrakes. I live in USDA Zone 6b under the 1990 map, 7a under the 2012 map and 7b under the 2023 map, in all three cases near the cooler end of the zone. I'm also in AHS Heat Zone 7 but more firmly within it. Yes, river cane is definitely underrated!

[Merlyn]

Tonight I cut down a somewhat disappointing bamboozle, Dendrocalamus Elegans.  I planted this around August 2022, and it's just never impressed me with the shape or foliage.  It has extremely small leaves, only about 0.25" x 1.75" maximum.  It's also not cold-hardy, defoliating completely at about 30F.  And the fronds drape really far down, so I had to cut the ends off to keep them from smacking me in the head.  And the leaves are always kind of medium to light green, regardless of fertilizing.  Overall, just meh.  It looks a lot like two others nearby, Dendrocalamus Dumosus and Longliensis.  Those two might find their way to the dump too.

[Merlyn]

Along the South fenceline, I redid the row of Bamboo.  Originally I had replaced three dead Viburnum with a Bambusa Multiplex "Golden Goddess" and a Bambusa Glaucophylla Variegated.  I dug up and gave the Golden Goddess to a friend, because it generally grows broad and shrub-like.  I wanted something narrower and taller here.  I also cut down 2 more Viburnum that were starting to lose leaves.  So in the place I have, Bambusa Textilis "Gracilis" up next to the camera, Bambusa Textilis "Vietnam" short in front of the pot, Glaucophylla Variegated getting a little taller of a shrub, and a bigger clump of Bambusa Boniopsis that used to be in front yard:

On the other side of the Boniopsis are the two clumps of Bambusa Multiplex "Alphonse Karr" that I had just planted a couple of weeks ago.  I decided this would be a better spot for them:

[Merlyn]

Along my rerouted SW pathway I planted 4 bamboo clumps.  The two sparse but taller clumps are a Bambusa Textilis "Albostriata" from Bamboo Forever in Oviedo.  I actually bought a 7 gallon pot and just chopped it in half to make the two smaller clusters.  The next two are Bambusa Textilis "Ladyfinger" aka "Richard Waldron."  The smaller was a 3 gallon, also from Bamboo Forever, and the bigger just in front of the Foxtail triple was a transplant from the front walkway.  The Ladyfinger are supposed to grow really full and narrow, but only about 10 feet tall.  Albostriata is a bigger one similar to Gracilis, and should mature in the 20-30' tall range.  The intent is that the Ladyfinger will block the view from the path entry into the backyard, at the corner of the house.  Right now they are doing a good job!

Up on the front walkway I planted a Bambusa Multiplex "Rosa" to replace the Ladyfinger.  Rosa should grow to only about 5' tall and is supposed to have rose/pink culms.  I've had sooty mold problems with other Multiplex, so the full sun spot might help:

[Merlyn]

In the new bamboo hedgeline I transplanted a small Bambusa Glaucophylla variegated, and then split up a 3 gallon pot of Dolichomerithalla "Doli Blue" into 2 spots, followed by Contracta and Subtruncata.  Splitting the 3 gallon into 2 plantings might be a bit risky, but it was already sending up shoots that were trying to bust the pot.  I covered the area with about 6 or 7 2cuft bags of mini pine bark mulch for a heavy layer of organics, and will top that with a couple of inches of my regular cypress mulch.

[Merlyn]

On Sunday I chopped off the tops of the Viburnum in the rest of the hedgeline.  I planted Bambusa Textilis "Gracilis" in the end near the fence.  I split up a pair of 15 gallon pots in this area, less 1/4 of a 15g that went behind the Bismarck earlier.  Two halves of a 15 gallon pot went in the spot closest to the rear fence, and three quarter-15g divisions filled in the rest up to the oak.  The yellowish culm on the left is a 3 gallon "RG Dwarf" from Bamboo Forever:

On the back side of the oak I planted another 3g RG Dwarf (not visible) and transplanted last year's RG Dwarf to the side near the oak.  The other two taller clumps are two 7g pots of Bambusa Dolichomerithalla "Silverstripe":

And a view from the North end of the whole line.  I still need to clean up the blocks and rip out all those annoying mosquito-laden ferns:

[Hillizard]

On 10/25/2022 at 11:54 AM, Hillizard said:

Merlyn: That bamboo nursery you listed is the original source of my x Thyrsocalamus liang. The leaves are definitely "drapey." Below is a picture showing more of my plant. I dug it out of a clump of 5 bamboo species it was growing among in my yard and potted it late last year, so it's still adjusting to that change. Also, the 10-day, triple-digit heatwave we had this summer scorched some of the top leaves. With Florida's higher humidity, you shouldn't have that problem. It seems a bit borderline in my climate but is an attractive hybrid. I may keep it trimmed to below the roofline of my house.

This is what my x Thyrsocalamus liang looks like after our recent (mild) winter. It lost all its leaves but is now re-leaving nicely.  The latest shoot is over 10 feet tall. No sign of another one yet.

[Merlyn]

@Hillizard here is my clump of xThrysocalamus "Liang" today.  It's just shot up two big 1.25" diameter culms to about 12 feet...and they aren't done yet!  They are sort of visible if you look really close in the middle.  The tall culm was from last fall, and the shorter one hanging out to the left was the first culm after planting.  It took no damage from ~36F with mild frost this winter, but hasn't seen anything colder...yet!

[Merlyn]

On the "garage bed point" just to the right side of the above "Nana" I planted Bambusa Textilis "Purpurascens," more or less a Gracilis type but with culms that age to a purple hue:

In the SE corner I planted an aggressive grower, Bambusa Eutuldoides "Basistriata," a green version of "Asian Lemon."  Supposedly it has light green culms with dark green stripes.  This is supposed to have a "prodigious annual growth of culms," per Tropical Bamboo.  It's supposed to get to 25' tall with 1" culms, but many people say 1.5" is typical on mature Eutuldoides.  We'll see...but hopefully it'll be a dense sound/sight block on the SE corner.  Next to it is a 15' tall clump of Bambusa Cerosissima, which I planted in March 2023 from a single culm.  It looks a lot like a tight clumping Textilis Gracilis at the moment.  In the back right is a towering Dendrocalamus Latiflorus:

[Hillizard]

On 5/15/2024 at 11:05 AM, Merlyn said:

@Hillizard here is my clump of xThrysocalamus "Liang" today.  It's just shot up two big 1.25" diameter culms to about 12 feet...and they aren't done yet!  They are sort of visible if you look really close in the middle.  The tall culm was from last fall, and the shorter one hanging out to the left was the first culm after planting.  It took no damage from ~36F with mild frost this winter, but hasn't seen anything colder...yet!

Very nice! I hope when it forms a tight clump the leaves develop the 'drapey' look you wanted!

[Merlyn]

2 hours ago, Hillizard said:

Very nice! I hope when it forms a tight clump the leaves develop the 'drapey' look you wanted!

I sure hope so!  The first culm (now heading off to the left) was kinda disappointing, because the leaves were fairly small and not at all "drapey."  The second culm was pretty vertical and a bit closer to the "Thai Silk" small leaf type.  Hopefully it does grow up to be the "Thai Beauty" large leaf type!

I just moved the last bamboo for a while, a Bambusa Glaucophylla green (non-variegated) that was in the back corner near the SW hedgeline.  When I moved the Glaucophylla variegated to the hedgeline last week it left a convenient open spot between Gracilis "Vietnam" (close to camera with a new shoot already) and Boniopsis (far side missing a ton of leaves).  The Boniopsis lost about 75% of the leaves after transplant, it was hot and dry and I didn't give it enough extra buckets of water.

[Merlyn]

Here's an interesting tale of two boos...one is a culm division from the other so they are genetically identical.  I bought a 3g Bambusa Tuldoides "Swollen Internode" from Tropical Bamboo back in January 2020.  I planted it in February 2020, then moved it and divided it up in February 2021.  One section of ~3 culms went in the SW corner.  It's in a slightly high area and is mostly sandy soil and is around 15' tall and seems to be reliably bellying:

And here's the lower culms with good bellying on most of them.  The newest ones are bigger and still developing, so it's hard to say if they will develop bellies or not:

The other set was planted in the SE corner in the spot where I removed the Bambusa Maligensis (Seabreeze) that was getting WAY too big.  This is the lowest area in my yard, and runoff from the neighbors flows into this spot in heavy storms.  There's a Dendrocalamus Maroochy crowding in from the left.

This one has no signs of bellies, and is ~25' tall from the 1-1.5" diameter culms:

The new set of ~15 culms growing up are about 2-2.5" diameter, and already 15 feet tall with no signs of slowing down.  With tons of water this clump appears to have reverted to the "normal" Tuldoides at 2.5" diameter and 45' tall.  I cut this cluster down yesterday and will be digging it out this weekend.

[Hillizard]

On 5/14/2024 at 11:10 AM, Hillizard said:

This is what my x Thyrsocalamus liang looks like after our recent (mild) winter. It lost all its leaves but is now re-leafing nicely.  The latest shoot is over 10 feet tall. No sign of another one yet.

My potted xThrysocalamus "Liang" has now leafed out fully this summer and has a new shoot erupting near this one.  The high-nitrogen lawn fertilizer I gave it helped, since it's a grass.

[Merlyn]

@Hillizard my xThrysocalamus Liang has gone nuts this summer.  It shot up two big culms around May and then another several ~15 footers.  Two of them got broken in a heavy thunderstorm, but are still growing!  They are wacky looking culms, but that's fine with me!  This is just after a rainstorm, so the older culms are leaning over a bit:

The branches on the older culms are starting to droop downwards a little bit.  This means the leaflets are mostly facing downwards and getting that "weeping willow" look.  I'm hoping that continues!

[Merlyn]

After a month and a half of removing Queen palms, I finally got back to chopping out the stumps of the Tuldoides not-so-swollen-internode.  It had resprouted some branches but no new culms, yet.  This was not too difficult to remove with the reciprocating saw and the 12" Diablo 3TPI carbide pruning blade.  I did break one blade, but it was an old used one.  Here's before:

And after, a 5' diameter hole only about 1' deep:

[Merlyn]

And in the newly opened space I transplanted a Bambusa Eutuldoides "Basistriata" or "Ox-eyed" bamboo.  I had planted this a couple of months ago on the East hedgeline, and it really wasn't a good spot for a bamboo with a "prodigious annual growth of culms."  This spot now has a good 10' diameter for growth, so hopefully it'll be a good long-term fit:

And just to the left of that I cleared out some Viburnum shrubberies and got a good look at monster Dendrocalamus Latiflorus culms:

[McPollo]

Hello.
Let me introduce myself, I am from Spain (Europe) and I am passionate about bamboo. I am currently creating a small bamboo forest in my village.
I have come here with the intention of learning and sharing my knowledge. 
A cordial greeting.