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Hi I am looking for some recommendation on bamboo books and dvds please

Hi Deane, I don't know of any documentaries, but I would highly recommend these.

Hardy Bamboos (Taming the dragon) by Paul Whitaker
Ornamental Bamboos by David Crompton
The Gardeners Guide to growing Temperate Bamboos by Michael Bell
Bamboo for Gardens by Ted Jordan Meredith

I have Hardy Bamboos and Bamboo for Gardens from above as well as Daphne Lewis' book Farming Bamboo. I would recommend any one of them with Hardy Bamboos probably being my favorite as it is written from a more personal view. Bamboo for Gardens is more encyclopedic than the former title, but either one is a good place to start. Daphne's book is more geared toward farming (hence the title), but does have some useful information for identifying some of the more common Phyllostachys. If you have money to burn and you want a really complete bamboo library, then you might look into A Compendium of Chinese Bamboo, but having never seen this book, I cannot recommend it personally.

wolfedg wrote: Hardy Bamboos probably being my favorite as it is written from a more personal view.

Heartily agree with your comments on Hardy Bamboos.

john

iain wrote:Hi Deane, I don't know of any documentaries, but I would highly recommend these.

Hardy Bamboos (Taming the dragon) by Paul Whitaker
Ornamental Bamboos by David Crompton
The Gardeners Guide to growing Temperate Bamboos by Michael Bell
Bamboo for Gardens by Ted Jordan Meredith

Thanks Iain I should of said the books I have already.
I have The gardeners guide to growing temperate bamboo by Michael bell , The cultivation of bamboos in Japan by sir Ernest mason satow,Katayama Nawohito and on its way from USA Hardy bamboos Taming the dragon by Paul Whitaker ,thanks for other suggestions I will look in to them ,shame about documentaries I can't find any

I too like Hardy Bamboo's but you need to filter some of the info, the hardiness in particular is frequently overstated I think.

As a complement to Whittaker’s excellent black/white illustrations(my favorite part of the book) in Hardy Bamboos there is Bamboos, Photos by Starosta with text by Crouzet. Up close and personal color pics against a stark black background, shoots and culms as you’ve never seen them with a few leaves sprinkled around. Got a copy from Amazon for a penny.

As text I prefer Whittaker’s Practical Bamboos approach for a feel of bamboo in the garden.

Neither of these suggestions are comprehensive in scope.

I also rank Hardy Bamboos as my favorite, possibly because of the sketches of the form of the plants: upright, v-shaped, etc. I agree with Brad that the hardiness ratings should be questioned.

It is interesting, if not always wholly enlightening, to compare plant descriptions across books. In Hardy Bamboos, the author has a surprisingly laissez-faire attitude to cultivation. To paraphrase, "The plant might get an initial watering, if it is lucky..." Quite refreshing, I guess, if you have a new planting and two days of unseasonably strong wind...

wind-borne wrote:there is Bamboos, Photos by Starosta with text by Crouzet. (...) Got a copy from Amazon for a penny.

Got it! ...for the price of postage. I'd not seen this listed in search results. Excellent. Thanks wind-borne!

Look what arrived from America while I was away on holiday