I have noticed some leaf behavior this winter that I wanted to share with the group to see if anyone else growing these cultivars has seen this. Specifically I'm interested in how these bamboo retain leaves during the winter months. I have a F. sp Jiuzhaigou #1 that while it did loose about 60% of its leaves this winter the remainder did not curl, instead they turned blond and fell off. I also have a F. sp Jiuzhaigou #4, leaf loss was similar here, but the key difference was that remainder curled up just like a F. nitida leaving me with a very green plant for this time of the year. I only bottomed out at 8.6º F this year so I know I didn't test there winter hardiness, that alone could be a explanation for the odd leaf response. So what has everyone's experience been?

F. sp Jiuzhaigou #1
http://morinfen.smugmug.com/Nature/Fargesia-sp-Jiuzhaigou-01/15441546_A5Tik

F. sp Jiuzhaigou #4
http://morinfen.smugmug.com/Bamboo/Fargesia-sp-Jiuzhaigou-04/15840198_patbK

M

*edit for wrong HTML links*

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M

Here's what I have seen from my F Nitida for the past 3 winters. Most of its leaves will turn yellow and fall of during the fall. The plant always looks top-killed by spring, but usually there are some leaves that unfold and the culms become well leafed out before shoots emerge. Last weekend I've already observed some bud elongation which has pushed off some of the dried up sheaths a little bit. After a brutal -9F winter low and 100% exposure since snow doesn't weight this species down it looks like my nitida is making a complete recovery.

I think the Jiuzhaigou varieties are very closely related to Nitida and should share some of the same growth patterns. Another thing is that it only seems to get marginally bigger each year, gaining approximately 1ft in height per year so I doubt it will get any more than 10ft.

Here's a picture from a few weeks ago during a brief thaw.

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/31489820@N02/

http://stevespeonygarden.blogspot.com/

hello

i made, last year, a post about jiuzhaigou on our french forum.

http://lesbambous.fr/forum/viewtopic.ph ... gou#p64109

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http://bambou74.unblog.fr/

http://bambou74.blogspot.com/

Jiuzhaigou IV has less leaf loss in my area then any of the Nitida forms including Jiuzhaigou I. We don't get near as cold as NJ. Interestedly it also tolerates full sun with little to no leaf curl. The new pretty exciting form to obtain is Jiuzhaigou IX. It's taller, more vigorous with deep dark red culms almost black like IV.

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Pacific NW ABS Member
Growing Fargesia, Borinda and Thamnocalamus near Portland, Oregon
USDA Zone 8B