Phyllostachys prominens

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johnw
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Phyllostachys prominens

Post by johnw »

I have been wading through the EBS forum which is in German. As you may know Europe had a very bizarre winter this year with very mild temperatures in January followed by extreme cold in February. A friend east of Berlin lost many very hardy bulbs due to the winter, they were well-advanced just before the mercury plummeted to -26c with no snow cover. From what I gather on the EBS - from my very poor German - is that P. prominens fared better [in retrospect I obviously misread that and this should read "fared worse"] than both P. parvifolia and P. aureosulcata, remaining for the most part evergreen while the others were fried. That particular report may be from the much milder main bamboo growing area, so I can't really interpret much from it. I doubt they came nowhere near -26c, the point is they had a much colder winter period than has been usual of late. There were quite a few EBS forumists that gave P. prominens a resounding thumbs up {read - down]. It would be interesting to hear some reports from European growers on how plants fared. I wonder what Jos learned about hardiness this year as I understand they too had a challenging winter in Holland.

I wonder how P. prominens has fared to date here in North America, that is to say the real mccoy and not the mislabelled one that circulated here in the days of its introduction.

Also if it is indeed a winner is it available as plants or rhizomes? It could be important to some if it is as hardy as believed in Europe. Only one way to find out.

johnw
Last edited by johnw on Tue Jun 19, 2012 12:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
johnw coastal Nova Scotia
sully0family
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Re: Phyllostachys prominens

Post by sully0family »

after I saw this post I figured I would try to find it, but after searching multiple sources, there were none that I could find had it. It doesn't seem like a common plant to carry; is it a rare plant? Now its Parvifolia and prominens that I want , but I can't tell my wife yet; maybe tomorrow.
johnw
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Re: Phyllostachys prominens

Post by johnw »

sully0family wrote:after I saw this post I figured I would try to find it, but after searching multiple sources, there were none that I could find had it. It doesn't seem like a common plant to carry; is it a rare plant? Now its Parvifolia and prominens that I want , but I can't tell my wife yet; maybe tomorrow.
One wonders if the imposters have been relabelled correctly in North America.

Good luck tomorrow!
johnw coastal Nova Scotia
bamboothew
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Re: Phyllostachys prominens

Post by bamboothew »

Just explain to her that the bamboo will likely be around much longer than that purse, makeup, or pair of shoes she spent that much on last month :roll:

Seriously, though, that does kinda put things in perspective :lol:
God Bless,

Matthew

===============================

Genesis 2:8 And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed.
sully0family
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Re: Phyllostachys prominens

Post by sully0family »

If it was only a purse,makeup and shoes I'd have my bamboo mini farm by now. she actually is cool about it , but doesn't want to hear the cost. I think in this region, a lot of people are unfamiliar with bamboo and are expected to have a negative opinion. Without going off the topic, why is Prominens not carried by most nurseries? Even the ABS list has it as extremely winter hardy.
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Steve in France
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Re: Phyllostachys prominens

Post by Steve in France »

I think it's rare because it was mislabelled from the beginning. I know a couple of members who have the real one. I have the real one here and may be able to propagate one or two. I cannot comment on hardyness all I know is it's fine here , but I get no winter damage on Ph Bamboos here in Maryland/DC.
I still have two very large pots of prominens here because the trip down to Davids had to be delayed. After this shooting season both plants are now way too big to go in the SUV. I've been thinking I may need to split them and mail them so they don't sit here for another year. I have no plans to plant one in the ground here. I'd be interested to see how prominens would do in the Maritime Provinces, I'm not sure how hard it is to get a Bamboo to Canada. Prominens looks a lot like Shanghai 3 to me, shoot colour is different.
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Steve
Always experimenting to get Timber Bamboos Timber size :-)
tncry
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Re: Phyllostachys prominens

Post by tncry »

Steve, if really want to see how it does in the Maritime Provinces in Canada, just send me a piece. :wink:
I don't mind doing favors for people. :lol:
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Re: Phyllostachys prominens

Post by johnw »

tncry wrote:Steve, if really want to see how it does in the Maritime Provinces in Canada, just send me a piece. :wink:
I don't mind doing favors for people. :lol:
No shortage of volunteers I'm sure! :wink:
johnw coastal Nova Scotia
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Re: Phyllostachys prominens

Post by pokenei »

If it's hardier than parvifolia or aureosulcata than I am all in...
Who knows, it could be the perfect bamboo for zone 5 which will stay evergreen or mostly evergreen given the worst of zone 5 winter (i.e -32c).
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Re: Phyllostachys prominens

Post by johnw »

Here in zone 6a I think in the long term the Fargesias will always reign supreme, maybe even in Z5b. Any Phyllostachys sp. will need a very protected spot to survive above ground and remain evergreen and then in a real Zone 6 winter we can certainly expect to lose leaves and in a really bad zone 6 winter culms too. We've had a very long bout of Zone 6b winters here. My hunch is if you can grow any Camellia successfully then Phyllostachys spp. will peform as well as they do in their native haunts - i.e. no leaf or culm damage in winter.
Last edited by johnw on Thu Jun 21, 2012 7:21 pm, edited 2 times in total.
johnw coastal Nova Scotia
sully0family
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Re: Phyllostachys prominens

Post by sully0family »

After about 2 hours of searching tonight, I am done looking for prominens. I guess it is rare.


John. I'm in 6a, I think. Some say close to 7, but I would think you should have a hand full of Phyllostachy that would do great there without too much damage ? I'm expecting most of mine to do great :?:
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Re: Phyllostachys prominens

Post by johnw »

Sully0 - Probably we are both in the same zone but the climate here is so dissimilar. For the last week we barely got to 60F and the lows have been about 44-46F. Today we struggled to 68F briefly and then the fog rolled in by suppertime and we cooled off again. To put this in perspective they are about 3-5 days max that we can sit outside past 9pm without a sweater and long pants. That's all great for alpines, perennials and rhodos. While our extreme lows may be similar our winter cold is protracted and winter lasts longer. Wind is very bad here as well. So Phyllos on the coast will be not so easy; inland which is colder and warmer will most likely suit them better.

Thank god for most Fargesias! As I mentioned to Steve they are no-brainers here - full sun, water once and away they go.

For years I tried to grow Sweet Gum here. Got seeds collected from their northern range via the Arnold but a no go everytime. They grew beautifully in pots but they simply would not harden off any of the growth they made after being planted outdoor - not even 1/4" of it. Two years ago I happened to walk 2 blocks from work to a restaurant taking a street I had never been on before. Looked up and realized I was walking under a big street tree - a Sweet Gum! Maybe we'll find that equivalent in a Phyllo.

And tommorow the wind will shift from NE to SW and we may hit 80F. :roll:

johnw
Last edited by johnw on Thu Jun 21, 2012 3:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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pokenei
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Re: Phyllostachys prominens

Post by pokenei »

Here in Toronto, we're in a heat wave. Temperatures above 34 C and feels 10 degrees hotter.

Bamboo leaves don't seem to enjoy this extreme heat too well. They curled up to minimize exposure under the hot afternoon sun. I think the best growing condition would be 24 degrees (C), partly cloudy with slight breeze... well that coincidentally is also the perfect weather for me :) We were having those kind of weather in past few weeks before the heat wave kicked in. But after tomorrow, it's looking great again!

Ok back to Prominens... I guess no one in zone 5 have tried the real thing?
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johnw
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Re: Phyllostachys prominens

Post by johnw »

Pokenei - Sounds like Halifax might fill the bill for your comfortable climate but you might not like the fog. :wink:

Halifax, Nova Scotia
Current Conditions as of 20:02 Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Station Summary Current Today's Highs Today's Lows
Outside Temp 22.7 C 23.1 C 19:27 12.3 C 04:03
Outside Humidity 77% 97% 01:31 74% 18:03
Inside Temp 21.1 C 22.2 C 15:14 20.3 C 04:26
Inside Humidity 54% 54% 17:59 45% 00:00
Heat Index 23.3 C 23.9 C 18:55
Wind Chill 22.8 C 10.6 C 03:59
Dew Point 18.3 C 18.9 C 19:01 11.7 C 00:00
Barometer 1000.4mb 1011.9mb 00:57 1000.3mb 19:13
Bar Trend Falling Slowly
Wind Speed 2 km/h 26 km/h 14:02
Wind Direction SSW 208°
12 Hour Forecast Mostly Cloudy, Rain within 12 hours

I was in the Annapolis Valley today and it was 30c in Kentville, happy to get back to the city. Might just put the quilts and longjohns away.
johnw coastal Nova Scotia
jd.
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Re: Phyllostachys prominens

Post by jd. »

pokenei wrote:Here in Toronto, we're in a heat wave. Temperatures above 34 C and feels 10 degrees hotter.

Bamboo leaves don't seem to enjoy this extreme heat too well. They curled up to minimize exposure under the hot afternoon sun.
The high here today happens to be the same 34 °C (93 °F). Thanks to a thunderstorm earlier this week the established bamboos here all look lush and green with most growing in full sun. :)
But meanwhile, many of the new divisions planted out here earlier in the spring now show stress with the leaf curl you speak of. :blackeye:
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