Probable height in Southern California within 3 years = 2'
Probable ultimate height in Southern California = 2'
Height in habitat = 3'
Loses leaves around -10 to 0
degrees Fahrenheit.
Loses canes around -20 to -10
degrees Fahrenheit.
Rhizomes die around -30 to -20
degrees Fahrenheit.
If growing in the ground it prefers shade.
A running bamboo - rhizomes will run sideways in moist earth unless
restrained with a root barrier.
Minimum soil depth required for a healthy plant = 3"
Unrestrained rhizome depth in moist soil
= 18"
l
Bright & cheery
leaves, hairy on the lower surface with brilliant green
and yellow new foliage in spring. Foliage turns green in summer, especially if grown in sun.
In winter the leaves
get weather-beaten, as who among us does not? Should be cut to the ground
for neatness sake if it looks sad in December to encourage
production of fresh new foliage in spring, as well as keep the plant low &
young-looking. "Would that we could all regain our lost youth by so simple an expedient," says
our French grass expert Meaux de
Laughn.
Does not seem to like heat & humidity - we tried growing it
in our California desert greenhouse where it gets 90-110 degrees every day in the summer & it was
not happy. Like all pleioblastus - has not done well in Southern Florida.
Introduced into the U.S. from Japan about
1870.
A major installation was made in 1992 in the atrium of the new Federal Judiciary Building inWashington, D.C.
Tim Meier of Wilmette, Illinois has a plant which is half mulched & half exposed.
Both portions are semi-evergreen down to -25 degrees F.
PLEIOBLASTUS VIRIDI-STRIATUS
CHRYSOPHYLLUS Solid screaming yellow zonker
leaves in spring and summer. Not as vigorous as greener forms, but
provides an interesting & attractive color contrast. Likes shade
& cool weather, just like viridi-striatus.
