Leo Schordje
wilted blossom
OKay, not even an orchid, but I think growing Bamboo is cool.
Phyllostachys aureosulcata hort. cultivar "Spectabilis" - Golden Yellow Groove Bamboo - the "Spectacular" cultivar. This is the most exquisite of the cultivars available of hardy bamboo. Canes are a light lemon yellow, with a green sulcus groove and occasional thin random green stripes on the culms. Larger canes can look hand painted. New shoots developing in the sun can be quite red for a few months until they age out to bright yellow. The normal color form is green with a dull yellow sulcus groove. This is the total opposite and anything but dull.
Winter hardy in Minneapolis. Evergreen to -10F, rhizomes are hardy to -25 F. In zone 5 a 5 year old planting can be expected to average 15 to 20 ft canes. In zone 7 capable of doing 40 ft canes. Will be shorter after a severe winter top kill of the above ground canes. Makes a great wind or privacy screen.
*** local customers only - no shipping available (too big and clumbsy to box up) **** Chicago - Milwaulee & St. Louis Customers I can deliver. I will be speaking in Batavia in October, BOS members can order for delivery then or before if we can figure a meeting point. Minneapolis customers - I can send your plant up with Kathy Creger or one of the other AOS judges that come down monthly to the Chicago judging center.
$46 per 3 gallon pot.
Bamboo as a landscape plant is misunderstood and much maligned, undeservedly so. The truth is that the first 2 or 3 years after you plant it you must baby it to keep it alive. Then for the rest of your life, you are fighting to keep it under control (well, not really fighting, but every year a little time must be put in to grooming the growve). The bad reputation comes from people planting bamboo then forgetting about it for 20 years, then after it has run wild they have a major job getting a path cut through their property. Bamboo is a moderately high maintainance landscape plant that properly groomed is beautiful beyond words.
1.) Give your bamboo a large enough space to develop, so it can do what it does naturally without having to be fought. My main grove is 35 ft x 3 ft. I recomend 50+ square feet minimum for the medium and large sized Phyllostachys.
2.) plan a barrier, either an expanse of mowed lawn, or a rhizome barrier 12 inches down or so. A raised bed works also. Compacted gravel driveway is also effective. Or annually edge your grove using a 12 inch wrecking blade in a battery powered Saws-All. Do not plant near a block or brick foundation building. Bamboo can not hurt concrete (unless it is badly cracked already). If you used a Saws All to edge your grove, you can then use Round-up to kill off out of bound rhizomes. Caution is that Roundup will travel up the rhizome and weaken the main grove if you don't sever the rhizome before using round-up. I prefer the no chemical approach, but Round Up is an effective last resort to regain control.
3.) Groom your grove - beginning year 4 harvest excess shoots (as they just come up - very tasty- cook like asparagus) - harvest smallest canes for arts & crafts projects. Leave only 2 or 3 of the largest canes per square foot. Excess large canes can be used for making fences, furniture, etc. Clear out dead canes and canes over 5 years old every spring.
Do the above, and you will be rewarded with the uncompromising beauty of bamboo.
Phyllostachys aureosulcata hort. cultivar "Spectabilis" - Golden Yellow Groove Bamboo - the "Spectacular" cultivar. This is the most exquisite of the cultivars available of hardy bamboo. Canes are a light lemon yellow, with a green sulcus groove and occasional thin random green stripes on the culms. Larger canes can look hand painted. New shoots developing in the sun can be quite red for a few months until they age out to bright yellow. The normal color form is green with a dull yellow sulcus groove. This is the total opposite and anything but dull.
Winter hardy in Minneapolis. Evergreen to -10F, rhizomes are hardy to -25 F. In zone 5 a 5 year old planting can be expected to average 15 to 20 ft canes. In zone 7 capable of doing 40 ft canes. Will be shorter after a severe winter top kill of the above ground canes. Makes a great wind or privacy screen.
*** local customers only - no shipping available (too big and clumbsy to box up) **** Chicago - Milwaulee & St. Louis Customers I can deliver. I will be speaking in Batavia in October, BOS members can order for delivery then or before if we can figure a meeting point. Minneapolis customers - I can send your plant up with Kathy Creger or one of the other AOS judges that come down monthly to the Chicago judging center.
$46 per 3 gallon pot.
Bamboo as a landscape plant is misunderstood and much maligned, undeservedly so. The truth is that the first 2 or 3 years after you plant it you must baby it to keep it alive. Then for the rest of your life, you are fighting to keep it under control (well, not really fighting, but every year a little time must be put in to grooming the growve). The bad reputation comes from people planting bamboo then forgetting about it for 20 years, then after it has run wild they have a major job getting a path cut through their property. Bamboo is a moderately high maintainance landscape plant that properly groomed is beautiful beyond words.
1.) Give your bamboo a large enough space to develop, so it can do what it does naturally without having to be fought. My main grove is 35 ft x 3 ft. I recomend 50+ square feet minimum for the medium and large sized Phyllostachys.
2.) plan a barrier, either an expanse of mowed lawn, or a rhizome barrier 12 inches down or so. A raised bed works also. Compacted gravel driveway is also effective. Or annually edge your grove using a 12 inch wrecking blade in a battery powered Saws-All. Do not plant near a block or brick foundation building. Bamboo can not hurt concrete (unless it is badly cracked already). If you used a Saws All to edge your grove, you can then use Round-up to kill off out of bound rhizomes. Caution is that Roundup will travel up the rhizome and weaken the main grove if you don't sever the rhizome before using round-up. I prefer the no chemical approach, but Round Up is an effective last resort to regain control.
3.) Groom your grove - beginning year 4 harvest excess shoots (as they just come up - very tasty- cook like asparagus) - harvest smallest canes for arts & crafts projects. Leave only 2 or 3 of the largest canes per square foot. Excess large canes can be used for making fences, furniture, etc. Clear out dead canes and canes over 5 years old every spring.
Do the above, and you will be rewarded with the uncompromising beauty of bamboo.
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