bamboo for zone 5???

I want a piece of bamboo suitable for zone 5. Anyone have a piece.

I also would like some =)

I would like some too.

SOMEONE please start a Bamboo Co-OP ! ! !

I have the Native Bamboo that is cold tolerant for zones 5 and 6, It's called Arundinaria gigantea, a picture can be found at New England Bamboo company (online nursery). I would trade for rooted Brugmansia that I do not have or ??

We are at 34 thousand feet, don't think that would work for me. Thanks anyway.

lizh-
Are you in a hot air balloon? 34,000 feet is about a mile higher than Mt. Everest!

LOL, OK, how about 3,400

Thanks for clarifying...I was about ready to send you an oxygen bottle and some sun screen!

LOL!!!!

I got some bamboo last year in a trade and they both made it thru the winter here...
TONS of lake effect snow and -27 low temps...the snow may have insulated it but there were some things that didn't make it that should have
the one came back slow but the other did great and showed early in the spring...
they are too small to divide and I lost the tags...also have no idea who I traded with to get them.....

But I say thanks to them everytime I see them........

Moko,
Your E came back so I'll post it here.

I have what you ' asked ' for in these sizes .....

*** Shirley's Peach .....12 " basal cut rooted and growing on it's own.

*** b. Sanguinea ..... 12" seedling , nice strong plant (needs to be set
free ) lol

*** Versi Peach .....14" cutting, with multi-branched growth it's 20"
tall.
V.P. has Y'ed already so it should give you blooms soon.

Soak them 15 min. when you get them ...... in Super thrive
-or- Miracle Grow has a new Quick Start Liquid that is the same.

You can cut some of the extra side branches off the VP and make even more
plants =)

So LMK if you still can trade for bamboo plants. If so send me your
snail-addie and I'll get them in the mail Monday.

Thanks Scoot, I'll write you thru DG, ever since I installed Win.2000 last month, Outlook Express 6 has been going crazy LOL.

Yikes !!!!

if you decide to cut shoots off the v.Peach ....... be sure you do not cut off the one that has Y'd already.

YEAH RIGHT, now ya tell me !!, just kidding, Thanks Scoot.

Hey 'billybob' heheheh =) *wink*
How's yer lanyaps doin ? Mine are kinda lookin like sticks in the ground, prolly growing beneath the soil ,I hope.

I've got a forest of this Boo *wink*, so no problem to replace if you think their a goner, The Brugs you sent me are doing fine, other than the SQ, might be a bit warm here
,leaves are turning up on the edges.

Bill

Sorry about that but we all try to be zone-pushers , eh ?

I got rid of all mine, except one I just had to stick in the ground. At least you know it's MotherNature doing it to your brug. Any buds on the VP yet ??

I'm gonna lift a couple of the 'stick plants' and see of there is any activity going on underground =))

If not I will take your suggestion on decorating them ....... ROFLOL
*** " wrap some green Christmas garland around them and make them nice and 'poofy' on top, then you can hang some red Christmas bulbs on um, Plus you can change the color scheme any time ya want." ***

This message was edited Jun 30, 2004 4:31 PM

This message was edited Jun 30, 2004 4:37 PM

I am looking forward to this thread. I have wanted bamboo for years now but no one here is growing any. I need to watch my pennies and dollars....so I am always looking for "pruf" they will work in my zone.

Edited to ask about elevation. I live at 3500 and in an arid area. Will this make a big difference on having bamboo?

This message was edited Jul 31, 2004 8:58 AM

Hey BillyBob olbuddy, Finallyy have some green 'spikes' emerging.
TG, I was afraid to pull weeds until I was sure what I was pullin'
Hope yers are doin' fine 2

Hey Scoot, Be papared to mulch the boo, evan though their hardy for your zone. I'm praying for a Devine intervention on the sang !, the rest are doing just fine.

Hey back atcha',
When the time comes to chop 'em up this Fall ........ you want I should shoot ya a nice big chunk 'o one of my small Sanguinea Trees ?

You'll have to remind me tho ............

Thanks for the mulch tip =)

§

I'm on the coastline in NH Zone 5 but had a Zone 3 winter. Lost my bamboo, butterfly bushes, hollies, boxwoods, and various herbs. Make sure you mulch for the winter. Lack of snow, so no insulation for the plants and wicked cold winds. Five straight days where temp didn't get above zero.........

For you Billybob

Helioman,
Sorry to hear of your losses. BUMMER !

The last few winters we have lost a lot on the farm here due to insufficient snow cover. But you know, I would rather not battle shoulder deep drifts just to get to the barn .

It's been a srange weather pattern across most of the U.S. this year. Here we are experiencing cooler than average temps this summer and lots of rain.

All is good for the garden but sure has put a dent in my 'scooter' riding , no cross country trips this year ;'(

Cheer up, it can only get better my garden friend ,

Shirley in Zone 5a
...... also in Zone Denial ...... LOL

Are there any bamboo that are hardy up this far? I would love some... but I'm afraid it's too cold :( Someone please let me know for sure!

Thanks,
Cedar

Linnea-
The hardiest bamboo can only survive to about -20 degrees F. Even if it survives in your Zone it will get top killed. Unless you can bring it inside to a sunny place in winter, you may not have any luck.

I have Fargesia muriale growing in St. John's, Newfoundland, zone 5b. I grew it from seed and it is now 6 feet tall after 6 years. No die-back yet. The Fargesia are among the hardiest bamboo and also a clumper rather than a rampant spreader. The other popular species is F. nitida. They are listed for zone 5a, but zone 4 might be too cold.

Todd, Where can I get seeds ?

Unfortunately, bamboo only flower once every 20-100 years! And strangely, a particular species will bloom simultaneously all over the world! So no seeds will be available for the next 30 years or so. There are mail-order bamboo nurseries in the US that offer Fargesia, so all is not lost.

Todd, thank you, you have given me hope! I am only borderline 4, and have a sunny niche on the south side of the house that would be perfect, because I think it is it's own little mocroclimate of 5a, at least. Things come back there that shouldn't. So I may try the fargesia there next year. I couldn't put a runner there, but the clumping ought to do just fine, unless you think it will put rhizomes into the house foundation?

Thank You!
Cedar

Ahhhh, tanks for the flower Scoot, and for the Sang offer. The red Sangs do not do well here, although the yellow Sang did great, it didn't Y' but it didn't wilt eaither,I'm optimistic for next summer.

If your need'n more Boo, I'm only a E mail away!!


Bill

Linnea-
You can plant a runner or a clumper. In your Zone you'll be lucky if any bamboo survives, so I doubt that you'll have to worry about invasiveness. As for your foundation, unless it's got cracks in it, the bamboo ain't going to do a thing. Despite the folk tales, I've yet to find a documented case of bamboo affecting any intact concrete. I've had bamboo planted next to my house for years. The foundation is a barrier.

Mellingers going out of bussiness sale has root divisions of both these bamboos.

HARDY YELLOW GROOVE BAMBOO 1/2 of $16.95
(Phyllostachys aureosulcata)

HARDY SNOW BAMBOO 1/2 $19.95
(Phyllostachys nuda) Hardy to at least -20°F

Both of these are hardy to zone 5.I received 2 of the snow bamboo .They wer'e large and seem healthy.
John

http://www.mellingers.com/results.tpl?command=search&db=catalog.txt&eqakudatarq=30075&cart=11016236456019&slave_to=30075&bob=30075&akusort=1&akusdir=as&slave_totype=num&akutype=num&bobtype=num

Be careful with bamboo....as if people don't already know...it's hard to control if you have the aggressive runner types. I'm in zone 6. I planted some near my house and buried a 24" piece of aluminum around the bamboo. Somehow it 'got out' and ran crazy. It shot out new underground shoots about 6' away from the plant before the above ground growth started showing. Of course I freaked out and yanked every last bit of it out of the ground and let it suffer a cruel death on top of the ground. Point is, it can easily get out of control if not properly tended. Imagine planting this stuff out in the open, maybe even near a neighbor's property. If left to grow and thrive, it'll be in someone else's yard and they won't be a bit happy about it. Not to mention, if somoene plants bamboo, takes care of it and then moves...and the new owner let's it go. It can be a real problem. This is one of those plants that if I grew it, I'd be sure to kill it off before I die. Otherwise someone that doesn't care might move in and let it run wild. And I guess that's how I feel about bamboo in my garden...lol If you get some, I hope you enjoy it. Personally, I'd love some hardy CLUMPING bamboo. That would be pretty and I could go for that. Still, I'd be watching it like a hawk ;) Bamboo pretty much goes in the ribbon grass and ajuga category in my book - plants I will never plant again, due to their overly aggressive/invasive behaviour. But my all means, if you want some and can deal with it, go for it :)

HCzone, so far the only bamboos that look like they might be hardy for me are clumping. So "whew" not a problem.

Being in NH, I doubt there would be many bamboos that would be very aggerssive there :)

i love bamboo or cane. whatever variations either large or small. the speed at which it grows in the spring, the beauty of it's leaves and stalk. it's functional in so many ways. i transplanted a dozen or so clumps in 04 and they all made it. river cane is what i call it.

hczone6-
I'm not going to try to dissuade you from being a bamboo-phobe, or try to pick a fight. However, I would like to point out that what you said about bamboo can be said about many other plants. Yes, if you plant bamboo and don't maintain it, it can become invasive. But I thought that maintenance is one of the main responsibilities of gardening. I've got over 30 varieties of running bamboo and none of them has ever gotten out of control. I use no bamboo barrier. Once a year I spend about 1-2 minutes per plant to rhizome prune all around the perimeter of the planting with a sharp shovel. Anything that's running further than I want gets chopped off and turns into worm food because newly running rhizomes don't have enough stored energy to exist on their own or get established. Works like a charm.