By Ted Jordan Meredith; 406 pages, hardcover If you are planning to include bamboo in your garden, this book will be your lifelong guide. The author, a Washingtonian, uses many beautiful photographs and a a gift for interesting prose to explain all about using bamboo in your garden landscape. Learn much about the many varieties including techniques for growing, controling, thinning, eating, harvesting and propagating bamboo.
Also known as Hardy Dragon bamboo, this clumping variety grows to 16 feet tall and one half inch diameter. It is hardy to minus 10 degrees F. It is the best clumper for sunny locations, some plant culms turning almost black while others turn shades of red, yellow or green. The leaves do not curl in the cold or heat as do other Fargesias and the darker green, dense foliage makes it an ideal hedge plant.
Hardy to minus 20 deg. F., it grows at high elevations in China where it is a staple food for the Panda Bear. The many small thin leaves and thin upright shoots make a beautiful 12 foot tall hedge. Grows in sun but prefers partial shade.
A hardy clumper, to -20 degrees F. It has dense foliage and makes a beautiful 12 foot tall hedge. The canes are very strong and make excellent garden stakes. It is the most upright growing of the Fargesia. It looks best when sited where it is not exposed to mid-day hot summer sun.
