First bamboo you obtained

Other things that involve bamboo

Moderator: needmore

User avatar
Deane
Posts: 365
Joined: Thu Jun 23, 2016 11:08 am
Location info: 0
Location: Dovercourt ,Harwich,U.K.

First bamboo you obtained

Post by Deane »

Hello fellow bamboo enthusiasts just for a bit of fun and knowledge could you tell me what your first ever bamboo was, the bamboo that got you in to bamboos. My first was Phyllostachys Nigra
Tarzanus
Posts: 1457
Joined: Sun Jan 16, 2011 12:05 am
Location info: 0
Location: Ljubljana, Slovenia

Re: First bamboo you obtained

Post by Tarzanus »

My first was a tiny Borinda fungosa seedling. Actually, it was seeds of Borinda fungosa and Phyllostachys pubescens 'Moso'. Still have the plants. :)
Alan_L
Posts: 2966
Joined: Sat Jan 03, 2009 4:13 pm
Location info: 81
Location: St. Louis area

Re: First bamboo you obtained

Post by Alan_L »

I got two at once: Fargesia 'rufa' and F. robusta. The rufa thrived (and is way bigger than I thought it could get) but the robusta declined each year for 2 years until dead.
Cooper12
Posts: 411
Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2015 3:38 am
Location info: 0
Bamboo Society Membership: ABS - America
Location: Emmett Idaho

Re: First bamboo you obtained

Post by Cooper12 »

I had planted Bambusa alphonse karr at my first place along with Bambusa oldhamii
then moved higher in elevation and got Borinda boliana and a lot more :lol:
Jason Floyd
Hangtown Farms

Emmett Idaho
Zone 7A
Potato country
dependable
Posts: 1323
Joined: Mon Nov 03, 2008 12:28 am
Location info: 0
Location: Island off Cape Cod Massacusetts
Contact:

Re: First bamboo you obtained

Post by dependable »

P aureosulcata. Did not know much about bamboo at the time, but admired how it made evergreen screen, year round and low to mid canopy. I had just bought a place along a busy road, and despite more than 200 ft setback from road, could clearly see traffic and lights from passing cars under the canopy of Oaks. This was also about the time that Canadian Hemlock, my 'go to' partial shade screening for landscape customers was succumbing to woolly adelgid.
Ophiuchus
Posts: 132
Joined: Fri Feb 12, 2016 9:06 pm
Location info: 0
Bamboo Society Membership: ABS - America
Location: Magnolia Springs, Al Zone 8b
Contact:

Re: First bamboo you obtained

Post by Ophiuchus »

Bambusa Textilis Gracilis.
wolfedg
Posts: 100
Joined: Sat Jul 04, 2015 12:52 am
Location info: 0
Location: Southern Missouri Z6B

Re: First bamboo you obtained

Post by wolfedg »

Phyllostachys Vivax 'Huanwhenzu Inversa" sold to me as Vivax Aureocaulis' which was true of the parent plant but I guess I got lucky on the division. It was the only one of a hardiness list I had made that was available at the nursery I was visiting. Ended up being the least hardy one on the list but since I had driven 2 hours to get to the nursery I didn't want to leave empty handed.
Visit my new blog Wolf's Gardens, Games, and other Getaways
https://wolfedg.blogspot.com/
Van-isle-bamboo
Posts: 231
Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2013 3:48 pm
Location info: 0
Location: Comox,BC

Re: First bamboo you obtained

Post by Van-isle-bamboo »

Fun post !

Ok first Bamboo was Vivax aureocaulis if I remember correctly. Second was nigra.

It all started off ( my crazed plant collecting of which not only involves Bamboo but lots of other oddities around the globe ) with my wife and I purchasing a home in 07. Spring of 07 I noticed these spears shooting out of the ground. A little research later and I was hooked on Bamboo. Then it moved to other rare hardy plants like schefflera ( and any cool aralia like sinopanax formosanus, Fatsia types, tetrapanax), tree ferns, palm trees, eucalyptus, species Rhododendrons, evergreens like magnolias, quercus, callistemon, gravillea, fejoia, just to make a few

Now I’m completely addicted to collecting the rare ones.

Added to my collection and should be some of the first in canada are

Bambusoides mixta, KR 4175, KR 5287, KR 7613, fargesia deep purple, edulis ‘gold stripe’, fargesia ‘gerry’ (which I know already is up here ), Borinda albocerea Y3a, KR 5913, oh yeah and the Nigra variegated ( which is under the microscope right now becuse it’s TC and looks odd lol)


Now I just need more land. My yard full of some more common ones like Meyeri, spectabilis, glauca,both and 30 more types at least.

But yup it all started with that darn Vivax hahahahaha
User avatar
wind-borne
Posts: 154
Joined: Sat Jun 07, 2014 5:03 am
Location info: 0
Location: OR Coast 9a

Re: First bamboo you obtained

Post by wind-borne »

Bambusa vulgaris 'Vittata'
"memory is the future of the past"
mshaffer
Posts: 155
Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2006 6:27 pm
Location info: 0

Re: First bamboo you obtained

Post by mshaffer »

My neighbor's friend's house was getting torn down to put in townhouses. I went over with him to help dig up some plants before they paved over the neighborhood. There was some Aureosulcata that had taken over his whole yard. I pulled out a few feet of rhizome and took it home.
pokenei
Posts: 407
Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2011 7:18 pm
Location info: 0
Location: Toronto (north)

Re: First bamboo you obtained

Post by pokenei »

Mine was Nigra, bought it at a local nursery on sale for $40.
Maybe it's just bad luck, 'cause this plant cannot seem to catch a break. It's no larger, in fact, smaller than it was 7-8 years ago.

First winter, it was sheltered indoor, but did poorly and almost died. Then I planted in the ground and see if it could recover. It did, and rebounded nicely the following year. But since then, every winter, it was either top-killed by the cold weather or top-killed by mice infestation. Actually, Nigra wasn't the worst victim. My Propingua Beijing was chewed on top and rhizomes as well, leaving only a thread of life left. This past summer, it managed to put up a couple of tiny culms which all flowered. Not sure if it has any energy left this coming season. Another mice victim was Moso. Because these bamboos are more cold sensitive than the others, I have the predicament every year of deciding whether or not to tarp it. Not tarping it means risking death by the cold. Tarping it would invite mice infestation and possibly top-kill or worse.
Van-isle-bamboo
Posts: 231
Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2013 3:48 pm
Location info: 0
Location: Comox,BC

Re: First bamboo you obtained

Post by Van-isle-bamboo »

Pokenei....

Moso’s are a zone 8 or better plant. They need hot summers ( which you have ) but mild winters. Nigra can be tender too actually.

Try spectabilis. Totally awesome Bamboo as it ages ( if the weather amend mice will let that happen)
pokenei
Posts: 407
Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2011 7:18 pm
Location info: 0
Location: Toronto (north)

Re: First bamboo you obtained

Post by pokenei »

Speaking of spectabilis, I did have it several years ago. I brought home a specimen about 6 feet high, 1 culm. I planted it temporarily on an elevated garden bed about 5 inches high. It was autumn, so that was the only place to get sufficient sunlight. I thought it would have no problem with the cold winter being the most cold hardy bamboo. Next spring, it tried to put up 2 new shoots, but both aborted, and managed to releaf instead. Then I moved it to a shadier location near the foundation. That was when it became a living stick, surviving for two more years without putting up new shoots. That plus the fact that mice were chewing it down and gradually weakend it to death. That spot is now occupied by my Propinqua Beijing, also in a quantum state, i.e. could be dead or alive.

But, I do have some other hardier varieties that are doing alright like Rubro, Atro, and Parvi. That's quite plenty in a 40' by 25' yard. So, no point in reintroducing spectabilis which is only marginally hardier at best.
Van-isle-bamboo
Posts: 231
Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2013 3:48 pm
Location info: 0
Location: Comox,BC

Re: First bamboo you obtained

Post by Van-isle-bamboo »

Pokenei..

Too bad about your spec, that’s awesome though that your others are doing great. I don’t have any of those but I’m restricted also to the size of my yard.

What are your lows in your area ?
Tarzanus
Posts: 1457
Joined: Sun Jan 16, 2011 12:05 am
Location info: 0
Location: Ljubljana, Slovenia

Re: First bamboo you obtained

Post by Tarzanus »

Pokenei

I have had some deer visitors this winter. They decided to eat my variegated seedlings in the raised bed. Nothing else, they didn't touch the more established bamboo. Then I covered the delicate seedlings to prevent deer from eating what remained. ...
Only two days later I noticed there were bamboo stems missing and I was certain they were there after the deer incident. Poked around and saw vole holes - the bastards got in into the raised bed. The first night after setting mice traps under the seedlings, I have caught two large voles. No damage after that, I guess I finished them off. What is interesting, voles started eating bamboo from above, not below.
Post Reply