bamboo that loses leaves in winter, but culms stay alive.

[Iowaboo]

Heres a bamboo I saw in 2004 in iowa. The owner says it loses it leaves in winter, but not culms. What species is it?

[Bill Howard]

A phyllostachys?

[Thuja]

Any idea how tall those culms are? Looks to be maybe 10' or so. I agree with Bill, a Phyllostachys of some sort seems a good bet (like P. aureosulcata). It's hard to tell but it doesn't look like Arundinaria gigantea which would be another candidate for surviving culms thru an Iowan winter. Personally, I have yet to find any species of bamboo which can survive above the snow in winter, so this particular plant you show may be exceptional, i.e., interesting.

[David]

I see that it is in a nicely protected area away from cold, dry, howling winds!
Did you get a piece of it?

[Iowaboo]

Boo Don't Grow Here by Iowaboo
Boo doo gro here, just not very big by Thuja

So I tell people that I'm growing bamboo. Their reaction is that boo don't grow here.

The pic was actually taken in my garden in 2004. They are salix hybrid. I transplanted the 70 of them in '05 on an outside row of a windbreak. Isn't it kind of cool how the cuttings are grown so close together, that they have a bamboo-like appearance. Obviously, if you saw in person, you would have known. That's why doing a pic was so fun.

So Thuja, we always have salix as our backup for pretend bamboo.

[Glen]

Salix bambusoides: a "bamboo" that will root in water like "lucky bamboo", and northerners can plant it in the ground without worrying about freeze damage.
I think you may have stumbled upon something here....

Actually, I have noticed that, from a distance, many wild Salix nigra trees around here look very similar to a large Bambusa sp.

[Bill Howard]

If you want the 'it looks like bamboo' look, go to ebay and search for 'plastic bamboo' they have tons it for real cheap. You don't even have to water it and it stays green all year long...

[Iowaboo]

Salix bambusoides: a "bamboo" that will root in water like "lucky bamboo",

, I should use that one over in the gardenweb forum.



I probably could sell alot of that bamboo before people found out it was just a willow. Austree sells the hybrids for good amount of money, even though you can turn a few trees into a thousand in a few years. I have hundreds of them in my nursery.

[Thuja]

So I tell people that I'm growing bamboo. Their reaction is that boo don't grow here.

Yep, that's the reaction here too, although sometimes you'll get someone that will tell you you're crazy and that the bamboo will soon bust through your foundation & into your basement. To that I just reply, "Really? Oh my gosh!" Anyway, there's no sense trying to convince them otherwise. It's like a religion. There are probably people who wouldn't dare plant a bamboo on the North Pole for fear it would take over and melt the polar ice caps.

So Thuja, we always have salix as our backup for pretend bamboo.

A couple years' more testing and if bamboo doesn't size up much then I may get into the Salix collection hobby.

[Iowaboo]

Thuja, how tall is your tallest bamboo culm in your tallest patch.

[Thuja]

My tallest so far is P. nuda. Oh yes, that is somewhat of a surprise. I believe about 8' tall tho I haven't actually measured it. Also it is still looking good after some pretty nasty cold winds. Go figure. It has been in almost 3 years. What has happened during the past 2 winters is that any below 0*F (~-4F) temperatures have killed off all leaves and culms not protected by snow. Hopefully this winter will fare better.

Another surprise is Semiarundinaria fastuosa, which is maybe only 6' but only finishing on its 2nd season.

[Iowaboo]

Still some green leaves on these hybrid willows with some ice on it, reminiscent of bamboo...