I came in late on the "What looks best in winter" thread. I've grown bamboo
in two spots in Maine -- one a fairly sheltered, z6-ish coastal village and
the other an inland frost bowl where we once got a low of -29F. This is from
personal experience only:

TALL BAMBOOS
Every bamboo I've grown -- including the reputedly iron-hardy fargesias --
looks a bit shabby and weatherbeaten (if not worse) by the end of winter. On
the other hand, the same can be said for many "evergreens" in the climate of
northern New England. It's one of the things that makes spring so welcome.

P. bissetti has proved clearly superior to anything else I've tried. Its
arching habit turns out to be a survival trait during severe winters, because
much of the foliage spends the critical months buried in snow. It is fairly
quick to put out new growth when warm weather returns. Canes tend to remain
viable and attractive for two or three seasons.

P. aureosulcata does okay. I love the look of the golden-caned varieties
(like p.a. aureocaulis) which make a nice contrast with bissetti. These are
more likely than bissetti to die above the snow line, unless you take the
trouble to stake down the (stiff and resistant) cames, which kind of defeats
the purpose, no?

P. nuda flat died on me, so tough cookies for that one.

P. congesta (which is the same as what, dulcis?) was showing promise when I
moved away from the colder inland spot. Last time I checked by, the little
clump, in a state of utter neglect and complete lack of nurturing, was
hanging on, though not thriving.

The fargesias (nitida and murielae) are sturdy and attractive but they are
stark naked from leaf loss by the end of winter.

SHORTER TYPES
Sasaella masamuniana albostriata is, hands down, the most successful I've
tried here. Absolutely hardy and quite lovely most of the year.

Pleioblastus viridistriata and p.v. chrysophylla have done well. They always
die back to the roots, but this puts them in the category of an ornamental
grass like, say, Panicum virgatum, which are still nice to look at because of
the lovely, spare, golden-tan winter foliage.

Huge, huge disappointment: Sasa palmata aka senanensis aka sinensis. This
failed SO miserably despite its reputation for super-hardiness, I still
wonder whether I might have been shipped the wrong species by New England
Bamboo Company (which performed the same little favor with P. aureosulcata
several years ago -- I deal now almost exclusively with Burt's Bamboo in
Massachusetts). Not only did s. palmata drop dead at the first breath of
winter, but it proved a pestilential house plant, luring whiteflies from at
least five surrounding townships. I sacrified this to the angry Norse gods
and have felt better ever since.

On Mon, 10 Nov 2003 8:01:19 -0500, kaspian
wrote:

I came in late on the "What looks best in winter" thread. I've grown bamboo
in two spots in Maine -- one a fairly sheltered, z6-ish coastal village and
the other an inland frost bowl where we once got a low of -29F. This is from
personal experience only:

TALL BAMBOOS
Every bamboo I've grown -- including the reputedly iron-hardy fargesias --
looks a bit shabby and weatherbeaten (if not worse) by the end of winter.

Of course they do, people sometimes expect a perennial to be always at
its best, which is not often the case.
On
the other hand, the same can be said for many "evergreens" in the climate of
northern New England. It's one of the things that makes spring so welcome.

SEASONAL CHANGE.

P. bissetti has proved clearly superior to anything else I've tried. Its
arching habit turns out to be a survival trait during severe winters, because
much of the foliage spends the critical months buried in snow. It is fairly
quick to put out new growth when warm weather returns. Canes tend to remain
viable and attractive for two or three seasons.

We would be very happy if you wrote to us and told us what you grow
and what are the seasonal lows. information such as this is constantly
expanding the limits of what people grow in the USA. without brave
souls experimenting, we would not ever know these things.

P. aureosulcata does okay. I love the look of the golden-caned varieties
(like p.a. aureocaulis) which make a nice contrast with bissetti. These are
more likely than bissetti to die above the snow line, unless you take the
trouble to stake down the (stiff and resistant) cames, which kind of defeats
the purpose, no?

people have done odd things with bales of hay and bamboo groves for
support of canes and as windblocks and MULCH.

P. nuda flat died on me, so tough cookies for that one.

See that one is supposed to be EXCEEDINGLY cold hardy.

P. congesta (which is the same as what, dulcis?) was showing promise when I
moved away from the colder inland spot. Last time I checked by, the little
clump, in a state of utter neglect and complete lack of nurturing, was
hanging on, though not thriving.

The fargesias (nitida and murielae) are sturdy and attractive but they are
stark naked from leaf loss by the end of winter.

They are widely cultivated in Germany. i am amazed to be able to grow
them in Southern California.

SHORTER TYPES
Sasaella masamuniana albostriata is, hands down, the most successful I've
tried here. Absolutely hardy and quite lovely most of the year.

And it is one of the all time glorious variegated plants as well, in
my opinion.

Pleioblastus viridistriata and p.v. chrysophylla have done well. They always
die back to the roots, but this puts them in the category of an ornamental
grass like, say, Panicum virgatum, which are still nice to look at because of
the lovely, spare, golden-tan winter foliage.

Huge, huge disappointment: Sasa palmata aka senanensis aka sinensis. This
failed SO miserably despite its reputation for super-hardiness, I still
wonder whether I might have been shipped the wrong species by New England
Bamboo Company (which performed the same little favor with P. aureosulcata
several years ago -- I deal now almost exclusively with Burt's Bamboo in
Massachusetts). Not only did s. palmata drop dead at the first breath of
winter, but it proved a pestilential house plant, luring whiteflies from at
least five surrounding townships. I sacrified this to the angry Norse gods
and have felt better ever since.

Sasa palmata grows well with its roots in standing stagnant water. I
believe some bamboo have roots which are anaerobic like the roots of
rice. i have experimented, the results were not what i would have
predicted, but they are undeniable.

if you want to post to me privately with your temperatures and what
you grow, i would be delighted!