If you've fished with a Bamboo pole, won
a cane at an amusement park, or eaten Bamboo shoots in a Chinese restaurant,
you've experienced as much Bamboo as most Americans. This puts you in a
minority among the people of our planet, most of whom use it for food,
shelter, and landscaping, as well as in arts and crafts.
Bamboo is so versatile
that entire gardens can be built using it as groundcover, shrub, tree,
and/or pot plant. It's an outstanding landscape material when used with
awareness of its character and special cultural requirements. Individual
plants have tremendous personality; no two plants grow alike. It grows
fast — a clump has been clocked growing at a rate of 6" per hour in
Japan, where Bamboo viewing is a social and spiritual event as well as a matter
of just plain gardening. It comes in many kinds and is available in a wide range of price
from several to hundreds of dollars each. It is an outstanding collector’s item.
It can be grown 50’ high in the ground from
a small cutting, or kept a foot high in a pot. It is a vigorous and
variable plant worthy of consideration as an important plant in your house,
office or garden.
(Canes shown
are from German nurseryman Wolfgang Eberts)