most rewarding Bamboos: -my P.aureosulcata Aureocaulis for spreading, nicely spaced out, more than 12 feet in a year - My P. vivax 'Huangwenzhu' and P. vivax for producing the biggest shoots (both 1.5 inch) least rewarding bamboos: all my top killed bamboos that have produced only few mingy shoots -...

Thank you Matthew. My nuda has been inground for four winters and has withstood temperatures as cold as -1 F.

My P. Nuda does very well in a partly shaded location and is as hardy as my P. a. spectabilis that is planted next to it. Never had any major leaf-burn.

My sasa kurilensis shimofuri shoot

Philippe: According to Paul Whittaker (Hardy bamboos...) this is one of the first bamboo to shoot. I have my Sasa kurilensis shimofuri for only 2.5 Years. Last year, the first shoot emerged on 19 March. This year we had a very cold and long winter and my sasa kurilensis shimofuri got partly top kill...

P.Nuda, P. a. Spectabilis, Sasa kurilensis 'Shimofuri' (very late this year)

Hibanobambusa tranquillans Shiroshima

f. robusta green screen (topkilled this winter), sasa veitchii

Finally my first shoots: F. Rufa, F. White Dragon and F. Scabrida

I love this bamboo and i have 3 plants. The one planted in the sun (3th season, 5 gal) is so far my most aggressive bamboo (6 ft spread this year). The other two grow in shade and are not spreading much but are doing ok (send up new shoots). Luckily the deer don't touch them

Wonderful garden. Are you using barriers for your runners?

I want to thin my P. aureosulcata (5 yo). What's the best time for thinning culms? Now during fall? Or better during spring?

What's your most disappointing bamboo that you grow? Why?
Mine is semiarundinaria fastuosa: Very slow to size up, lots of leaf burn in winter and bamboo mites just love it.

ocimum_nate,
is it full sun location?

Does anybody now the name of this beautiful fargesia (new culms green, old culms yellow)? I bought it at a local nursery. There was no label attached and nobody working there could tell me its name.