More Bamboo photos from my garden

It's hot hot hot here in Sunny SoCal and my Bamboo is loving every minute of this weather. All the Bamboos have produced this year and I'll post more photos soon
I hope you like them.
Tom

I love the picture of this one, Tom. What one is it?

This is Bambusa Vulgaris Vittata.
Painted Bamboo.

Thanks Tom for the fast ID. This one is only hardy to 27 degrees F. according to the American Bamboo Society list. Such a beauty though !

Tom,I'd like to see all kinds of pics of your Bamboo!keep em coming!

Tom,

I have one simular to yours. Do I have the same kind? Any growing tips besides the usual containment issues. Thanks!

Jul,
If it's the same as mine you should not have to contain it because it is a clumper. How old is yours?
Tom

Mine is 5 years old, but was in a pot and suffered the perils of pothood. So, I took pitty on it and planted it next to my block wall. The prev owners put a curb (do you believe it a CURB, in front of the planter. So, I don't mind if it does sprawl, but glad to know it is not a sprawler.

What other kinds do you have in your garden?

Hey Jul,
Check out this link.
http://home.pacbell.net/taylor42/amergoth.html
then go here to see a list of my bamboo's
http://home.pacbell.net/taylor42/garden.html
I'm redoing most of it so some links and photos will be gone but the garden start has all the species I collect.
I currently have 7 growing in ground and will prob plant 2 dendros and the G.A. within the year.
It's just a matter of cleaning a big junk pile and doing a plan.
Tom

Here is a very young culm of Bambusa Beechyana.
As you can see its covered in a very fine talcum like powder.
It will eventually wear off. Look at the branches growing out of the node, see how they are free of powder?
Tom

This is my latest purchase.
Gigantochloa Atroviolacea.
It is a Tropical clumper the small shoots at the bottom will eventually turn all black as the large main culm.
The large mature culms are black with green pin stripes.
I'll plant this within the next year but I have to prepare a place for it.
Tom

Here's a nice bamboo growing in my garden, though this is a photo of a slightly older specimen in a botanic garden in the area Himalayan Blue Bamboo (the genus keeps changing and i forget what it is now)- culms have blue, purple, green and grey in them- incredible!

Both are great looking!!wishing I could do that here!
Root.

Tom,

Love the Bamboo. Cool fuz!!!! I will check out the link. Thanks... Will the bamboo stay black when dried? We want to use the bamboo that we plant. Mostly for picture frames.

Also, we have some pieces of dried bamboo that are about 5" thick. They are bleached from the sun. (someone put them in the dumster and we dove in for them) They are nice, but can I get the color back? I am hoping to use them maybe as table legs. I have 6 5' pieces. Can send pic if you want to see.

Tom,

Lots of Bamboo in containers. You must have alot of room in that yard of yours. Which one are you? With the sharp Pitch Fork??? LOL....

An Impressive list of bamboo. Just a hobby or a business? Things like that can get out of hand if it is just a hobby. I know, my DH and I planted 25 kinds of tomatoes this year. I just got a ripe heirloom. I did not plant anthing resembling this. It is 1lb, yellow and tasted like lemon. Good but not mushy with small cavaties. A keeper! A great salsa tomato!! But I think i will be canning and blessing others with a lot of tomatoes!! LOL

Hey Jul!
I guess you could say I'm a collector but I also grow it to sell. I made my first 100 bucks the other day.
Earlier that day I had over extended myself when I bought a Bamboo called Gigantochloa Atroviolacea.
But God is good and he sent a couple of guys that same day
out of the blue repeat out of the blue who were driving by and asked if I sell Bamboo. I showed them my collection
and they bought 2 for a total of 100 smakers.
So the way I see it God helped me offset the cost of my
earlier purchase plus he's giving me the confidence to make this hobby into something more then just a hobby.
God is good!

Here is the Gigantochloa Atroviolacea.
It is from Java and I finally secured some.
I'll leave it here till spring then I'll plant it inground.
Right now I have 4 Large Dendrocalamus that I want to get in ground by next spring plus this G. Atro
Here is some more information on this beautiful Bamboo
http://www.inbar.int/publication/txt/tr17/Gigantochloa/atroviolacea.htm
See ya's
Tom

opps sorry I already posted this pic

I still eagerly look!!!Tom I do not know how shipping from Cal. is,if you can ship roots or plants,but when you get to the point of making this hobby profitable,I would gladly buy a root from you!!!

Tom,

Glad to hear how God provides huh?

I am a potter and I know he continually helps me along. I don't have time to look at the link now, but I will check it out later tonight. Got orders to fill!

My bamboo grows real well here but it has very thin stalks that are 1/2 in or less. I would really like to try some of the heavier duty type. Can you tell me what species I should be looking for. I planted mine about two years ago and it is now alomst10-15 feet tall. It's more like the kind you would use for fishing poles. Nice to watch it sway in the wind. Very soothing. Any sugestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Jan

Hey Jan!
I'm wondering if you have P. Aurea (golden bamboo).
It is a runner which means that it will spread if not contained.
If your not worried about that my suggestion will be any of the Phyllostachy's in the Nigra family.
Here are some of the heavier duty bamboo's

P. Nigra Megurochiku
nice 2-3 inches max 4" green culms with a brown sulcus stripe on each culm.

P Nigra Hale
Considered to be the actual mother form of P nigra

P Nigra Boryana (my favorite)
Green culms with brown or maroon mottling on the culms
Tom

Yes Tom, mine is a golden bamboo. Very pretty and very invasive but I love it. Any ideas about where I could get the Nigra Boryana? My sources here in my locale are very limited. Thanks for the info, Tom. I appreciate it. You have some wonderful bamboo plants.

I was just thinking, a very dangerous thing for me to do, but do you ever trade or sell any of your runners or are all of yours contained. I have had very good luck trading and moving the runners that I have. My DMIL has had wonderful luck with the runners I gave to her. It was just another one of my brain storms. LOL
Jan

Jan,
I make a trip to your neck of the toolies about 3 times a year, My Folks live off of Palominas road in Hereford.
I can bring you some. They have 5 acres and We're thinking of the possibility of a Bamboo Ranch specializing in cold hardy plants for your area.
I have all 3 of those big runners so I can devide some and when I go down I'll give you some.
Tom

Oh Tom, that would be wonderful. You know we are having a RU in AZ on the 22nd of Nov. Do you think you will be in and around this area then? If not, thats okay I can meet you somewhere in between or you could come to tombstone. Let me know when you are coming so I can plan ahead. Thanks so much Tom. What a sweetie you are.
Jan

What gorgeous bamboo! I'm still debating whether or not I am going to grow it or not. It depends on how much room I have after all my other wishplants have been grown. :D

This message is for Bambootom or anyone who grows bamboo and can possibly help me. I believe we have the golden bamboo as it is very invasive, but we have plenty of space for it and that is not a problem. My question is: Can this bamboo be thinned and the larger stalks will grow larger or are they at their max at about 1 and 1/2 inches, and thinning will only make it look a little better. Also, would it be wise to fertilize this bamboo. We've had it for at least 5 years and have never fertilized it, but we wondered if it would become greener or larger with fertilize?

LGW728-
When a culm comes out of the ground, it is at its maximum diameter and will attain its maximum height in that growing season; there's nothing you can do to change that. Further, all bamboo have a natural maximum size so giving them a lot of fertilizer won't supersize them (unlike those giant pumpkins, for example!). If you, indeed, have golden bamboo, it normally doesn't get more than about one-and-a-half inches in diameter, and about 25' high. However, since there are over 1000 species of bamboo, and the majority are running, you could have something else. Bamboo are often difficult to identify, but Golden bamboo -- Phyllostachys aurea -- is distinctive in that the lower nodes are often close together (think handlebar grip); I'm attaching a picture of some culms for you to check out.
Having said all that, it is a good idea to fertilize, either with a good slow release fertilizer, like Osmoscote, or an all-purpose grass fertilizer...as long as it doesn't have weed killer added to it. You can thin it for appearance, but your fertilizing probably won't do much of anything to make for bigger culms; however, they will be generally healthier, and you may get more of them, and bushier foliage.

Kudzu-
Thanks so much for all your valuable info. I am now ready to proceed with thinning and fertilizing. Your picture confirms that I don't have golden bamboo- I guess it's one of the other 999 kinds. I really appreciate you taking the time to give me such a thorough answer.

Sorry, I just checked the Forums and didnt see the message until now. I agree with what Kudzu said, very good information. If you dont have Golden Bamboo then I wonder what you have. Hopefully it's not ARUNDO DONAX.
http://www.grasses.co.uk/arundo/id27.htm

Good luck and happy growing!
Tom

LGW728-
If you can post a digital picture (both the whole plant and something closer that shows the culm) maybe I can confirm whether you really have bamboo, and, if so, maybe even what kind.

Heres some Mexican Weeping Bamboo thats finally taking shape in my Garden. Some people don't like this bamboo because it doesnt have the classic leaf shape. I think it's cool looking

This message was edited Mar 24, 2004 7:50 PM

Doh!
East leaning culms from Bambusa Vulgaris Vittata

I love the look of the Mexican Weeping Bamboo. Do you sell cuttings of your bamboo? Would it live in zone 6? DH said he would like some of the bigger kind.

Hi Liz,
I sell mostly 5-15g pots of Bamboo. I'm not really set up for mailing, wouldnt know where to begin.
I'm getting ready to dig up two small plots of Vulgaris vittata and Oldhamii, I'll pot them up and sell them locally.

I have a mission trip to Romania that I'm trying to pay for
so I will be having a Bamboo Firesale sometime in May.

Tom, I have always love photos of the Mexican weeper. Too bad I don't live in a milder climate or I might be coming down there for your spring sale.

Tom, I hope you have a great sale and a safe trip to Romania.

Your bamboo's look great. The ones I purchased were mailed to me just like we wrap the plant's roots when we trade, only they came in a bigger box, got three from one place and shipping was only 15.00 (Portland, Or to CA) not bad (Gallon pot size), although, it was not a great distance. Please send me an e-mail or post about your sale in may, I would love to get a couple of clumper starts from you (5 gallon). Sounds like a trip of a lifetime.. goodluck and have fun.. A.