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First bamboo you obtained

Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2018 6:22 pm
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

Re: First bamboo you obtained

Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2018 10:18 pm
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. :)

Re: First bamboo you obtained

Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2018 10:52 pm
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.

Re: First bamboo you obtained

Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2018 4:18 am
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:

Re: First bamboo you obtained

Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2018 12:14 pm
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.

Re: First bamboo you obtained

Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 1:24 am
by Ophiuchus
Bambusa Textilis Gracilis.

Re: First bamboo you obtained

Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 2:48 am
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.

Re: First bamboo you obtained

Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 1:09 pm
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

Re: First bamboo you obtained

Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 3:03 pm
by wind-borne
Bambusa vulgaris 'Vittata'

Re: First bamboo you obtained

Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 8:12 pm
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.

Re: First bamboo you obtained

Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 4:22 am
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.

Re: First bamboo you obtained

Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 12:47 pm
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)

Re: First bamboo you obtained

Posted: Sat Jan 13, 2018 12:39 am
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.

Re: First bamboo you obtained

Posted: Sat Jan 13, 2018 1:59 am
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 ?

Re: First bamboo you obtained

Posted: Sat Jan 13, 2018 7:54 am
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.