Planted some aureosulcata and spectabilis in May 2011. Was growing real well last year and covered over winter. I'm in metro detroit and had one of the warmest winters in history, and the warmest march ever. Only sustained minor to moderate top kill. Problem is nothing seems to be leafing out execpt for a couple whip shoots, which i assume is a good thing. Am i expecting to much to early? Trying to remember it's only march, but COME ON already. No shoots, no leaves, no nothing. If anyone can give me a timeline or what to expect that would be great. Newbie at bamboo adn maybe just a little to anxious, trying to have patience. Thanks for any input.

If you still have any green leaves on the culms, then you should expect re-leafing, but if it is all blonde, then your bamboos might be fried.

Just take a closer look at the leaf buds and if they are elongating, then they should be alive. By this time of the year, aureosulcata should have at least elongated leaf buds. Before I gave away my 99% of my aureosulcata to local bamboo lovers around the neighborhood through craigslist last week, I had at least 30 shoots on it, already as high as 3 inches, some exceeding 1 inch in diameter. Both my aureosulcata and spectabilis have had elongating leaf buds since the first week of March. Some bamboos like nigra and dulcis are already at the leafing stage.

I doubt that you are that much colder of a zone than I am in so if you take a closer look, you should be able to see if the leaf buds are alive and well. Also given that you are probably a zone 5, I would suggest tarping these bamboos for the first few winters so they can get established.

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Steve, thanks for the reply. Most still have green leaves so i don't know whats going on. Didn't see any leaf buds what am i looking for?

Just went and looked real close and think i see leaf buds, extremly tiny. I think this is a good sign?

If the leaf buds look firm and look like they are starting to elongate, then that should be a good sign. If you still have green leaves, they should re-leaf. Spectabilis leaf buds should not be that tiny, but they do tend to take a bit longer to leaf out even though shoots come a bit early.

Here's an example of leaf buds elongating. They look like miniature shoots.

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