Awakening from a long winter slumber - running bamboo is now shooting...

For a couple of weeks now, I have spent several strolls through my garden with a keen eye on new bamboo shoots popping out of the ground from my running bamboo plants.  Until today, I strolled back in the house a bit disappointed, but still hopeful that it would only be a few more days until I see those beautiful bamboo shoots poking out of the ground, showing awakening from the long, cold winter slumber.

The way bamboo works is - running bamboo shoots in the Spring (March through June) and clumping bamboo shoots in the Summer (late July through mid-October).  So these times are particularly exciting for a 'bamboo geek' like me.

Today, sure enough, I saw this, which put a smile on my face and I found myself gawking at it:

This is Phylostachys nigra 'Black Bamboo'.  A running bamboo that shoots bright green and turns black over a year and a half.  This was the first shoot I discovered this season.

This is one of my favorite running bamboos - Phylostachys bissetti.  Tough as nails (takes high wind and minus 10 degrees), beautiful with lush green foliage and it is fast growing.  I got a glimpse of several shoots like the one pictured above peeking out of the ground.

Yes, I am a 'bamboo geek', finding these little garden surprises makes my heart go pitter-patter; and, this is just the beginning, more shoots are working their way up through the soil to the warm Spring sun.  Can't wait...

Sean
Mad Man Bamboo
(916) 300-6335
www.madmanbamboo.com
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