Phyllostachys Species, Yellow Groove Bamboo

I bought a Phyllostachys aureosulcata from a local nursery in 1995 when I read it was hardy to -20 F. And it has been! Here in Flagstaff,...Read More Arizona, at 7000 feet we can have very cold winter nights, and occasional freezing temps into June and starting again in September. Even after repeated heavy snows and bending to the ground, this bamboo has held up fantastically, adding new stems each year to the clump and greening up each spring.

I knew from the start that it was is notorious invasive, so I originally planned to prune and barrier any attempts at spreading. Interestingly, it has never produced a runner all these 12 years, and it never grows over 8 feet high. Maybe it's a combination of the long winter and the dryness (we get under 23 inches of precip a year, and I only water it every month or so in the summer). Age or several years of drought may be stressing it this past year as some many stems are dying. Last summer even the grasshoppers were grazing heavily on it.

Overall, a beautiful bush to have in our grassless landscape; to bad it's so invasive elsewhere. Another note: this plant's original label and some books also call this P. aureosulata a Yellow Groove Bamboo.

I know of a large grove in the woods. It's in the middle of zone 5b. I have transplanted several culms and I meet about a 90% success rat...Read Moree in getting them started.

A transplant that I moved in late April grew a 1/2" shoot 3 weeks later. The shoot maxed out growing 12 inches a day. It grew to be about 9 feet tall. That was good for a first year shoot.

This is planted in a sheltered area hemmed in on one side by the neighbor's driveway, on the other sides by the porch, a sidewalk, and a ...Read Moremostly unoccupied flower bed. It is in very rich soil, and receives a significant amount of rainfall due to a downspout that empties near its base.

I didn't use a barrier, which may have been a major mistake. Here in 5b/6a I didn't want to do anything that limited its growth. I am planning on harvesting and dividing rhizomes on a fairly regular basis, and I wasn't certain this plant wasn't marginal in my area anyways.

It has remained evergreen even with subzero temperatures, and seems to survive flooding, and even frozen standing water, with no problem.

It's now May 2006, and I have nine eight inch tall (one inch wide) shoots that appeared less than a week ago. The previous year's growth was a bit burned by winter winds, but the rhizomes have not been phazed. :)

grows like crazy around here...

Positive w/ Caution.
Like ALL running Bamboo this one MUST be barrier-ed or grown in a container.
The underground runners a...Read Morere at least 1/2" across and can pierce heavy pond liner w/ ease.

We first got the plant in 1999, 5 gallon pot, 7' tall.
It took 4 years to really get moving.
It is now 8' across (w/ barrier) and over 25' tall.

Here in Zone 6/7 it is evergreen but can get severe winter die back from sub-zero temps, especially in unprotected areas.

The 'Crooked Stem' type is the most sought after.
In China, the country of origin, it was thought to be bowing to the Emperor and cultivated for the ruling classes.

If you get this type DO NOT attempt to straighten the bowing stems as they will snap off.
In a few days they will naturally start growing vertically.

The culms are edible in the first few days of shooting.

The vertical growth rate of new shoots in Spring is phenomenal.
Ours have actually been measured growing an inch an hour.
They reach their full height of 20-25' in two to three weeks.

To show off the canes we limb ours up to about 4' and thin out the smaller shoots.
Canes can also be harvested for garden supports.