Arundinaria Gigantea (Canebrake) 5 years later

Madison, IL(Zone 6b)

I first inquired about this plant on the invasive forum about 5 years ago. I went back to that thread to followup with a photo of my canebrake. Someone suggested that I share my success on this forum. I purchased my 3 plants from Missouri Wildflowers Nursery. Right away, the dog ate 1 plant leaving 2 survivors that were slow to take off because of the drier summers. One year, we had a wet spell and the canebrake took off. It's not hard to contain and I like that it's evergreen. I'm in zone 6 which recently went from 6a to 6b. The leaves do get a little burn on the tips in the wintertime, but it still looks very nice. Here's a few photos. The first 4 were taken last weekend on 2/3/13. The yellow rose photo was taken a summer or 2 ago.

Thumbnail by greenbrain Thumbnail by greenbrain Thumbnail by greenbrain Thumbnail by greenbrain Thumbnail by greenbrain
Hulbert, OK(Zone 7a)

Hello Greenbrain,

I came across your post as I am once again on a mission to identify one of the bamboo we are growing.
After umpteen searches and posts on various boards, I'm leaning towards Arundinaria Gigantea 'Tecta' (Switch Cane)
for what we have, but even this morning, I find myself doubting that.

I enjoyed your pictures, but missed the bunny the first time. :-) Thanks for sharing!

Madison, IL(Zone 6b)

You're welcome wuvie!

Fayetteville, PA(Zone 6b)

fI love our native bamboo, and have made several attempts to get some started when I was living at my parents' house, with somewhat limited success, due to the fact that A. gigantea is really slow to get started (as you found out yourself), where I had to plant it gets entirely too much shade and rabbits tend to demolish it over the winter if you don't have it fortified behind a hardware cloth barrier.

I'm going to try and transplant the one sole surviving clump to the house I got, but I'm afraid it might not have any viable rhizome buds, so I'm going to attempt to either find a nursery around Chincoteague that sells it when I go down with my wife and her family this summer, or perhaps if I go down to visit my one uncle in S. Carolina over Memorial Day.

I just wish there were some local suppliers around here, since the plant is not only plenty hardy (at least the stuff I got from Chattanooga, TN and the A. gigantea Tecta I got from behind my uncle's house in S. Carolina), but doesn't take over the neighborhood like most non-native bamboos....

Madison, IL(Zone 6b)

It's funny how my sat dormant for a few years; then suddenly took off. I hope that yours does the same.

Fayetteville, PA(Zone 6b)

Well, I've got some good news about mine: I decided to dig it up, just in case, and I found a small rhizome going out from the original clump with viable buds on it. It's currently sitting in doubled-up heavy duty trash bags with water around the roots, and I'll be planting it in a more favorable spot tomorrow. Hopefully it will finally do something now that it will be getting enough sunlight.

Madison, IL(Zone 6b)

That's great! All the heavy rains this Spring has made mine so happy that it's more lush & has sent up some very tall canes.

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