Tis the season to notice bamboo groves you never saw before

[Arkansas]

Today (December 11) i am driving down a road I've been on hundreds of times before and i notice a large grove of bamboo easily 40' and probably 50' tall, covering an acre or more and make a mental note to walk int here and look it over sometime. It's maybe a quarter of a mile or a bit more from the road I'm going down. Those green shoots stand out on a drab, cloudy day with all the leaves fallen from the trees.

And then i have a second thought about circling around on another road that will lie the other side of the grove, just to see how close i can get to it by driving. And the closest i can get is over half a mile but i can still see it way across a huge field, but the funny thing is, right up next to the road I'm driving down there is a house positively surrounded by what looks to likely be the same boo, and it's not over 40 feet off the road. The culms are so thick you can hardly see through them and go right up against the house, with in an overgrown, almost abandoned look. They are only about 2.5 to 3 inch diameter, in spite of their height, but i am amazed they would be there, with me driving right down that road dozens of times without ever seeing them.

Lately, i have noticed in the old part of towns, you can often find backyards with a fence line full of bamboo. There are more patches than i first thought and now is a good time of the year to see them.

[Alan_L]

I agree, and have also discovered several bamboo plantings in the St. Louis area during the winter. I usually start noticing them later in the season though -- late January and February. I guess my brain is aching for some green by then, and spots them more easily.

That bamboo you spotted around the house is probably what drove the occupants to abandon it, since bamboo is so evil and uncontrollable.

[Iowaboo]

Get some pics of that place!

[Iowaboo]

oh and see if it just looks abandoned or really is, cuz sounds like a nice winter home to squat in for me

[bamboothew]

I actually saw 2 previously unknown to me groves in Easley, SC last week but didn't have time that day to stop for a close look but hope to soon. I am hoping that at least one of them is one of those seemingly mythical groves of Phyllostachys aurea. It is strange to me that so many websites state that aurea is "the most commonly found exotic bamboo in the southeast," yet out of at least 30 exotic groves I have found nearby, I have yet to find any aurea. So far, they are all yellow groove and vivax!

[bamboothew]

I actually saw 2 previously unknown to me groves in Easley, SC last week but didn't have time that day to stop for a close look but hope to soon. I am hoping that at least one of them is one of those seemingly mythical groves of Phyllostachys aurea. It is strange to me that so many websites state that aurea is "the most commonly found exotic bamboo in the southeast," yet out of at least 30 exotic groves I have found nearby, I have yet to find any aurea. So far, they are all yellow groove and vivax!

Actually, how lame is this, the two local moso groves totally slipped my mind! Will have to post some pics the next time I visit one, not that anyone here likes mature moso pics

[bambootony]

YUP!!! I spotted a grove of Yellow grove that I pass almost everyday for the last 30 years.
The grove covers the whole property.
The biggest is about 2 inches or less.
I will get some photos soon to post.
There is also a grove of unknown bamboo that I have heard mythical stories about but can not spot a few miles from my house...
The grove seems to move about depending on who I am asking...

[foxd]

There is also a grove of unknown bamboo that I have heard mythical stories about but can not spot a few miles from my house...
The grove seems to move about depending on who I am asking...

Have you considered using the Streetview mode of Google Earth or Maps? I have found that useful in checking out a grove location. I can't always tell if it is bamboo from the image, but in I can tell if it looks likely.

[Case]

There is a grove that I have spotted going to my sisters house. It is in the middle of some woods so I can only see the tops poking out above the trees, it must be ateast 50'. I spoke with a guy that was on the road and asked him about it and he said that there are some 4-5" culms in there (wether that is true or not I need to find out). I really want to find out whos property it is so I can go check it out further and get some pictures.

[bambootony]

There is a grove that I have spotted going to my sisters house. It is in the middle of some woods so I can only see the tops poking out above the trees, it must be ateast 50'. I spoke with a guy that was on the road and asked him about it and he said that there are some 4-5" culms in there (wether that is true or not I need to find out). I really want to find out whos property it is so I can go check it out further and get some pictures.

WOW!!! 50 foot!!!!
I can not wait till I get to see my first BIG BAMBOO!!!!

[stevelau1911]

There are lots of willows that look like bamboos around this area, but few real bamboo groves around. The only species I usually see are yellow groove and bissetii around here maxing out at around 20-25ft by 1.5 inches. I've seen black bamboo once which looked like it only got to like 10ft. I've also seen a type of bamboo that grows like 5-10ft with yellowish culms and looks like a phyllostachys so I'm assuming it might be bissetii dwarf. Of course mexican bamboo(japanese knotweed) can be found anywhere.

Earlier this year I have driven past a 30+ ft grove which looked like culms were over the 2 inch mark. I didn't have my camera at the time, but oddly it looked like green vivax with fat upright culms, fairly high branching, but there was very minimal leaf burn so I assumed it couldn't be vivax, and perhaps AGP that I already probably have.

I really doubt that I can find a 50ft grove around, but if I purposely went on a bamboo hunt around all the neighborhoods in the areas for a few days straight, I'll probably find a few groves of a species I don't have.