Some bamboo pics

[CHASZ51]

The Royal empress tree is one of the fastest growing trees so they say. Hope it was not a mistake buying it down the road. I need some shade as summer it is 24/7 sunshine since we no longer have a normal summertime pattern.

[Rich Z]

Originally Posted by CHASZ51

The Royal empress tree is one of the fastest growing trees so they say. Hope it was not a mistake buying it down the road. I need some shade as summer it is 24/7 sunshine since we no longer have a normal summertime pattern.

I just took a look at some pics and it appears to be a nice tree to have. Flowers look beautiful. What color will the flowers be on yours?

I wish I could grow the large clumping bamboos here, but even just one REAL cold night and they are history. A while back Connie and I were on an abandoned piece of property on Pine Island that had several areas of some very large clumping bamboo, and I was just awestruck by the peaceful sound they made as the wind moved them around and the clumps bumped together. That was WAY before we moved to Florida, and that memory has always stuck with me, and actually sparked my interest in bamboo. I'm still not there with the large running type I have, but on occasion I have heard the culms rubbing together in the wind and that too, is a very peaceful and relaxing sound.

But maybe with the global warming, eventually I will be able to grow the tropical clumpers here. But another problem is that the roots tend to be pretty shallow, so it's not uncommon for strong winds accompanying storms to knock over a few of ours that we have now. And for some reason squirrels seem to ONLY like the largest bamboo shoots that come up every Spring. This year I want to try sprinkling moth balls around the new shoots to see if the smell will discourage their appetite.

[CHASZ51]

Should be purple. Never seen one of these trees in person. I would try bamboo but scared it would take over. We just don't get cold here anymore since around 1990 minus the winter of 2010. Just about everyday is now above normal year round. Our summer weather has also changed were we go weeks without rain and then get 30" in 2 weeks time. Not a temp below 32 in years when back in the 80's we had super freezes every other year from 19 to 24 degrees when i lived in Tampa.

[Rich Z]

The clumping types of bamboo are not runners and therefore not invasive. I have a couple of clumps I put in a good 20 years ago, and they have barely expanded much beyond the original planting. These will be of the genus Bambusa.

http://www.bamboo4u.com/Bambusa.html

[Rich Z]

Took a pic of the white bamboo we are growing....

[CHASZ51]

Make good Tuna fishing poles like they used in the old days. They had three guys with bamboo poles tied into one line and would flip big tuna on the deck.

[Rich Z]

Yeah, I actually tried to start a grove of "Tonkin Cane" which is supposed to be an excellent choice for fishing poles, but it didn't take. There must have been a tag-a-long rhizome of "rubromarginata" in there, as that is what started growing and eventually took over. "Rubro" is a very fast spreading form of running bamboo and I guess it just out competed the Tonkin.