bambooweb.info

Has anyone had success with this cultivar and is it distinctive enough to be bothered growing? It's said to be diffcult to get going in cooler summer areas.

I say don't bother, it is a weak bamboo for me. Not so hardy and in the few rare years that it has maintained leaves, most culms never produce new leaves. Still, the new culms are the most eye catching of all and perhaps worth it for that!

I have a nice large specimen if Harbin growing in the ground here. It is the smallest of the aureosulcatas now that Lama Temple has died. I would not say that it is not worth growing. Far from it. It loses leaves on culms sooner than other types of boos here, but I cut them out. The culms show an array of colors and stripes not dissimilar to Harbin Inversa, and the culms have interesting vertical ridges in them that get more pronounced as they get larger. I have seen some rather showy specimens of Harbin at several bamboo display gardens in the west, and they can be rather spectacular. People that come to my nursery seem to like it, and I am currently sold out of Harbin.

Harbin is as cold tolerant of the other aureosulcatas and grows straight and upright with random kinks and bends in the culms. Like other aureosulcatas, it tends to get overcrowded and put up small as well as large shoots every year. If anything, I would say that Alata is the most boring of the aureosulcatas. It is just another green Phyllostachys with no color or striping. I sold a lot of it last year though. For some reason last year most people wanted green bamboos, and they avoided buying the colorful culm bamboos. Go figure.

I think, Harbin is not suitable for hardy localities. In my garden it is weak plant with limited hardiness. Growing for ornamental purpose need annually cut plant to the ground, because leaves are not nice after the winter.

I neglect mine TBH, seems to do OK here though.

great color!!!!!

I really want to love mine due to the awesome color but every winter that there is leaf damage the culms do not ever leaf back out on mine so it essentially needs to be clearcut annually.

Brad - Is that because the buds are also damage or do you reckon it's a genetic problem? I'll give 'Harbin' a definite pass no matter its fine attributes.

BTW Friend in coastal Mass. says all her Phyllos are toasted but atrovaginata looks the best.

+3c and sun, continuing rotten weather here. Snow barely melting here and was not pleased to see this surreal map produced by a local young meterologist:

John, even in those mild winters the new leaf buds do not fire on >95% of the culms and that may overestimated!

Boy sounds like a cultivar with big problems. One would think it would break out of that. Is it prone to revert?

Marks looks much yellower than mine but that may be that mine don't live long. New culms of mine look like shiny, ridged yellow groove with lots of dark purple blended in.