2007 Boo Shooting Season! : Not just for tropicals anymore!

[David]

mzkrista,
Aureosulcata shoots will tolerate 28-30*F without much diff. here in Tennessee, but last year were nipped in the low 20s. As you know microclimates can make a huge difference. I'm a full zone warmer than you, and yet I have nothing in the ground shooting. Later shooting is preferred here because of our typical late season freezes.

Welcome aboard!

David

[EBinNC]

Thanks for the info Rick.
Eric

[foxd]

i got home this evening to find that the Pleioblastus viridistriatus 'Chrysophyllus' had put up about a dozen shoots. Admittedly, all the shoots were in a sheltered location within 5 inches of the foundation of the house, but technically they were outside. So I'm going to claim them as the first shoots of the season!

[Eastlandia]

Hey Needmore, Foxd, (and others)
Are the leaf buds on any of your culms comming out and replacing the foliage from last year? Is it a possiblilty that many of my groves were top-killed because of their young age?
Just a thought, but last year around this time I had leaves replacing the old ones.
-eastlandia

[foxd]

I saw some large leaf buds on the Sasa veitchii and some signs of leaf buds on the Phyllostachys nigra. I'm certainly watching for new buds at this point.

Four of the outside bamboos are showing no signs of life, but I'm not worried yet.

I have seen culms of the Yellow Groove re-leaf, that I would have sworn were top killed. Admittedly, they took a REAL LONG TIME to do so.

[needmore]

Brian, I noticed that the Sasaella bitchuensis has new branches over 5cm long, the Sasa tsuboiana is just starting to push them. I mowed the ground covers yesterday which also chops up last falls oak leaves, this uncovered new leaf growth on several of them that was previously sheltered in the leaves. The F. rufa has heaved a bit from winter making some rhizomes visible and these are starting to shoot.

I don't know if it is species specific or if it is some other conditional cause but I've noticed that some of my Phyllostachys will produce new shoots before the leaf buds elongate, others push the leaves first. I would expect to find everything we planted in your lower pasture dead to the ground due to young age & exposure but I would be surprised if some of your older stuff up the hill was not still holding some viable buds.

How did the Yellow Groove on Greasy Creek look in terms of leaf damage? Dan, Brian - seen any decent looking YG around, I could stand to dig some if I can find time.

[foxd]

I spotted leaf buds on the "Yellow Groove" and the S. Y. 'Kimmei'.

Brad, you can check my grove of G and dig some if you want.

[Eastlandia]

Brad- The grove on Greasy Creek was surprisingly green in the inside. It was in much better shape than my grove at home and still looks some-what green when you drive by.
I took about 50 root divisions, and Ill be sure to tell you the success rate. I can go back anytime and since they are moving to Michigan, he really doesn't care how much I take.
This week I'm free, so if you have time, we can certainly go dig all we want there.

As for leaf buds, I did see some developing on the PYG that I divided a few weeks ago. So, if those made it, I'm sure the mother grove is soon behind.
Mr. "Paperweight" also is letting me come again and dig. But I don't know about root divisions, I might wait until summer before I go. Either way, excess AG"paperweight" will be on the way as well.
-eastlandia

[foxd]

I found a shoot from the Pleioblastus viridistriatus that is planted a fair distance from the house. Also, the Phyllostachys aurea 'Holochrysa' is not looking as dead as I thought. So that leaves one outside bamboo that is showing no signs of life, Pleioblastus pygmaeus.

The basement has warmed to the 55-65 F range and the Pleioblastus pygmaeus and the variegated Pleioblastus distichus have both started putting up shoots. Shoots from several of the other bamboos, which had slowed their growth to a microscopic rate, have sped up. These include Phyllostachys atrovaginata, edulis, heteroclada and Pseudosasa viridula. The Fargesia rufa now has shoots over a foot tall. The Semiarundinaria okuboi and the Bambusa ventricosa "Buddha's Belly" have not shown much activity.

[David]

A moso seedling that usually has a late winter death wish, just broke the ground with 2 nice shoots. They may actually make it this year I moved the plant to an exposed northwest slope which apparently slowed the shooting about 2 weeks. I'll still probably have to throw a sheet over them a couple of times.

A shoot on a dwarf Ph. aurea seedling(from Jim Bonner) surprised me last night. I thought I had lost the plant as everything on top was brown and crunchy. Seems very early for aurea to be shooting, but this is a weird little plant anyway which never gets over 2 ft tall.

A deer abused 1gal Ps. japonica variegata planted last fall has also ventured up a small shoot. That was a surprise as there was nothing left of it above ground.

The F. rufa, Indo. Lat and solid, and the ground cover pleioblastus are all sending up small shoots.

Pictures here. Coming soon.

[foxd]

Outside: Pleioblastus pygmaeus is alive, so all outside bamboo has survived the winter.

Inside: Phyllostachys parvifolia has still not put up a new shoot.

[rfgpitt]

I dug up some of the bamboo around the house the other day and found a few Pleioblastus getting ready to shoot. F. robusta had some elongating. I'll have to wait for the snow to melt to look at the Yellow Groove. My guess is we're about two - three weeks away from the Phyllos.

The good thing is, well, there is no good thing..... this late winter stinks!

[jtkach]

Shooting this week

Fargesia robusta
Indocalamus solidus
Psuedosasa japonica 'Tsutsumiana'
Phyllostachys bambusoides 'All Gold'
Phyllostachys bambusoides 'Castillonis'

All of these except the Fargesia sustained almost complete leaf kill this winter, due to the fact they were planted a week before the December cold snap, 12 F. So they may be trying to put some leaves up to sustain some form of photosynthesis. All the shoots are very small in diameter.

[David]

Ph aureosulcata 'Spectabilis' sent up dozens of shoots Sunday, and today in fact I stepped on a couple several feet from the main plants. Third year it leaps!

[Brian_K]

Saw Pl. viridistriatus and F. rufa shoots today. All of my plantings have viable branch buds, but I still fear near-topkill on most of my plantings. AG, Pl. viridistriatus, Ph. nuda, and Ph. humilis dont have any damage to culms.
I'm beginning to think that YG isnt as hardy as we thought... humilis might be more cold hardy. I've seen other plantings of YG and they look just as bad. Good news is since this was one of the worse winters in recent memory, the boo that survives will probably be ok here.