Unlike most bamboos, which have earned a bad reputation for running aggressively, Fargesia species form clumps which expand only very slo...Read Morewly. No root barriers are needed.
Fargesias make wonderful garden plants, both beautiful and well-behaved. The habit is gracefully fountainlike, with the outermost culms bending almost to the ground. Most. like 'Jiushaigou', are hardy to Z5, and perform best with protection from afternoon sun. Unlike most bamboos, they are quite shade tolerant. They do not like hot summer climates, like that of the southeastern US.
Bamboos are monocarpic---they die shortly after flowering. With bamboos, this happens only every hundred years or so, and somehow all members of a species all over the world tend to go to flower within a few years of each other. Fargesia nitida and F. murielae bloomed in recent decades.
Currently, growers are propagating the new generation from seed and are selecting cultivars as these seedlings mature and show their distinctive qualities. Cultivars originated a century ago, if they're still available, will be short-lived in the garden.
Plants sold under this name are seedlings collected between 1986 and 2000 in China's Jiushaigou National Park, and are likely to be long-lived. However, there are at least 10 different clones that go by this name and differ in traits (like height) likely to matter to the gardener. Also, genetic analysis shows them to belong to a yet-undescribed species, not to F. nitida. http://www.bamboogarden.com/Fargesia Jiuzhaigou comparison.h...
Some nurseries may still be selling the old cultivars. Seedlings of the new generation should be good for another century. It pays to make sure you know which you are purchasing.
Unlike most bamboos, which have earned a bad reputation for running aggressively, Fargesia species form clumps which expand only very slo...Read More