Bamboo: King of the Grasses
Bamboo is king of the grasses. Upright and elegant, bamboo can add a distinguished vertical line to any landscape.
Although bamboo has earned a reputation for being an aggressive, fast-spreading menace, not all bamboos are runners. In the last ten years, newly introduced, non-invasive clumping bamboos have become increasingly available to the general public. These plants offer extreme cold hardiness, variety of form and texture; myriad different cane colors; and, most importantly, both tight and open clumps that do not spread when planted.
Bamboo is most commonly used as a fast-growing evergreen partition that allows privacy screening and texture in all seasons. With the advent of bamboo products in new construction, both commercial and residential (e.g., gazebos, fencing, hardwood flooring, and cabinets), use of bamboo in landscaping has become increasingly desirable as a living complement to these refined, natural products.
Bamboo is indigenous to all continents but two: Europe and Antarctica. With over 1,400 different species, it is a highly diverse and variable group of plants. Documented traditional uses date back as far as 200BC and include such things as timber for housing, cooking utensils, weaponry, basketry, musical instruments, furniture, food, and medicine.
The strange phenomenon of bamboo flowering is called “gregarious bamboo flowering,” as plants of most bamboo species will flower at the same time everywhere in the world. To say a given bamboo species is a clone of itself the world over is an oversimplification. Though in essence, that’s what it is. What is important is that the majority of bamboo plants die after flowering. More specifically, clumping bamboo seems to completely die after flowering, while spreading timber bamboo can eventually generate new growth. This process can take so long, however, that most gardeners end up removing their flowered-out running bamboo to rid themselves of the dead-appearing grove.
Some bamboos can grow for up to 120 years before flowering. Others flower every 60 years. And some species, triggered by environmental conditions, can flower more frequently. Generally, growth is vibrant for all the years leading to a flowering event.
Booshoot is rapidly building our capacity and selection on both perennials and ornamental grasses. These plants are offered in Stage III and in a deep 72-cell plug.
For horticulture sales and inquires please email hortsales@booshoot.com.