Grass and Bamboo: Giant Clumping Bamboo - suggestions needed for zone 8, 1 by ButterflyChaser

ButterflyChaser wrote:
Hi Sadie,

I don't know if you've found what you're looking for yet, but I have a bamboo alternative that I love. Arundo Donax "Peppermint Stick". It looks like bamboo and makes the bamboo canes, but it's variegated. There's a "Variegata" that starts out variegated, but when it gets hot, it loses its variegation and is just green, like bamboo. So I prefer Peppermint Stick which doesn't lose the variegation.

It clumps quickly and keeps spreading from the clump. It's easier to divide than bamboo. It has rhizomes similar to canna rhizomes. It gets 12 or more feet tall and has mauve plumes in the fall. Very drought tolerant and pretty fast growing too.

I bought Peppermint Stick at Homestead Farms in Coldwater, MS. I think it was $15 for a one gallon container. But don't be fooled by size. It will quickly grow to 12 ft or more and spread. So one or two gallons is all you'll need unless you're impatient.