BAMBUSA MULTIPLEX SILVERSTRIPE

 

 

15' height, Sun, 15 degrees F Minimum, Clumper.

Silverstripe Hedge Bamboo, Bambusa glauscens variegata, Horai chiku hosho.

 

    Said to be the tallest & most vigorous of the clumping hedge bamboo varieties.  Leaves & occasionally culms are striped with white, especially if grown in a pot.  Variegation is prominent on young, pot-bound plants, making interesting decorations, especially because the plant is so strong & therefore can be cut up & trained in any way that suits a person's fantasy without weakening the plant.

        In the ground it is a rather ungainly, vigorous, space-consuming & dominant plant with no variegation at all, so stand back & make way because one plant will take over a 10' diameter space in a hurry!  Plants in the ground can be used as mother plants for striped babies or as a wide, fast-growing hedge which is as strong as cast iron with roots of steel.  Or, if you like to do a lot of pruning in the summer, it can be kept pruned into any narrow hedge shape that you prefer.  In Japan it's used to hold back floods, earthquakes & unwanted visitors.

        Ed Winkleman in Florida had very large birds (Emu's, etc.) & his birds #1 preference for nibbling was Silver Stripe.  They preferred Golden Goddess #2 & refused to eat any golden bamboo leaves even when grown directly in their pen.