Besides the anticipation of seeing the first shoots poke through the ground, wondering what size the new culms will be and how tall they will get, and where exactly they'll emerge, many species of bamboo have shoots that are just beautiful.
I'm going to let the photos do most of the talking today, and hope to show you again (as I try every spring) the variety, interest, and artistry of bamboo shoots. The species in these photos are: Phyllostachys glauca 'Yunzhu' (dark red shoots), Phyllostachys aureosulcata (light shoots with striping), Phyllostachys viridis (green with spots), Phyllostachys nigra (fuzzy with wavy culm leaves), and Phyllostachys rubromarginata (green with thin red edges of culm sheaths).
Enjoy.
I hope you like this as much as I do, as there are other species that haven't started shooting yet -- so more bamboo shoot photos to come!
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Great photos, and yes, an exciting time, even for a small-scale phyllostachys grower like me. One shoot on my nigra so far...
ReplyDeleteHi there - love your Blog! I grow bamboo in the house because I live north of minnesota in thunder bay (zone 3) but I wondered if you know of any (extremely) cold hardy varieties that might overwinter up here? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYou're getting them about 1 month earlier than I usually do, but I think the most exciting out of all of them could be the atrovaginata since it puts so much energy into increasing its size.
ReplyDeleteI think it's possible to grow bamboo in zone 3, but you might need to take extreme measures to over-winter it, such as a heavy blanket, with lots of tree leaves around.