Winter damage observations

[needmore]

I have just posted a new webpage with my winter 2007 musings if anyone is interested. A work in progress but there may be some notes of interest to someone out there.

http://www.needmorebamboo.com/feb2007.html

[Jeff: Igor's Apprentice]

Great info!
Now I want P. stimulosa and S. oshidensis!

Already new 'Rufa' was a champ!

[foxd]

I think I'm going to wait until the ground thaws before I make any real decisions about how the various bamboos did last winter. But so far, the one that have done the best have been A. giantea which looks unphased. P. aureosulcata and the 'Spectabilis' cultivar come in second, H. t. 'Shiroshima' third, and Shibatea kumasaca and Indocalamus tessellatus tied for fourth.

The rest of the bamboos have pretty much total leaf kill. Not sure about culms yet.

[Iowaboo]

Time for my update

Texas longhorns 155
Iowa State cyclones 0


In otherwords, I think pretty much most topkilled. Regarding sasas: I haven't checked my oshidensis, but senanensis and palmata were planted close together, and palmata was wiped out first.

[needmore]

In otherwords, I think pretty much most topkilled. Regarding sasas: I haven't checked my oshidensis, but senanensis and palmata were planted close together, and palmata was wiped out first.

I'll be interested to hear how your oshidensis does, particularly after in-ground for a couple of years. Year 1 mine did not catch my eye but it has not had any burned leaves in the past 3 winters and nothing else comes close. A gigantea is very interesting to me as it is the first species to show leaf burn, usually in November, then no more damage all winter.


Dan, my Hibanobambusas are all toast unless the portions buried where we piled the snow hung in there. It looks like the Dulcis is not seriously damaged which may mean that 1.75 - 2 inch culms this spring are possible.

I just added a few more photos to the page linked above.

[foxd]

The H. b. 'Tranquillans' didn't seem to show much damage all through the long cold period. Now it is looking worse each day.

Interesting about the dulcis. I look forward to seeing how large of culms they produce.

A few of the smaller outside bamboos I don't hold much hope for surviving that cold period. They may have been completely frozen down to the rhizomes and roots.

[needmore]

David, if you're out there, I'd appreciate hearing how your arcana looks. Mine has pretty serious leafburn but has lots of nice looking buds after some harsh conditions for a bamboo rated as hardy to 0F. Also a stimulosa update if you have it.

[bamboozal]

Brad,
If you do have F. robusta, I'd appreciate hearing how it fared in relation to F. rufa.
Thanks.

[needmore]

My F robusta died early last spring and I'm not sure why but I had observed that it was topkilled somewhere between +5 & +10F both winters I had it. It pushed a new shoot in early April, the shoot aborted and then the plant died off, maybe no energy left. It was a 2 year old 1 gallon I believe. The Wolong form for me has top killed also above +0F 3 years running, it currently is technically alive but only the first 3 inches of a culm that has a couple of leaves. My guess would be that both are not going to do well below +10F.

I am probably a poor gauge of Fargesia hardiness other than with the Rufa which does quite well here in summer & winter. It looks nice all year, is one the the first 3 to shoot, has a second shooting season later in the year and is sizing up nicely. I have tried 10-11 different members of the genus and I am totally unable to enjoy any of them but the Rufa form.

[foxd]

Here are my observations so far on my outside boo:

Arundinaria gigantea - Survived the winter and looks good.
Fargesia nitida - Leaves still tightly curled and most looked dead. Culms look good.
Hibanobambusa tranquillans 'Shiroshima' - Leaves look like they have had a rough winter, but many look okay.
Indocalamus tessellatus - About 50% leaf damage.
Phyllostachys aurea 'Holochrysa' - Total leaf loss and culms look dead or dying. *sigh*
Phyllostachys aureosulcata "Yellow Groove Bamboo" - Some leaf damage.
Phyllostachys aureosulcata 'Spectabilis' - Some leaf damage.
Phyllostachys nigra - A couple of leaves survived.
Pleioblastus pygmaeus - No sign of life.
Pleioblastus viridistriatus - No sign of life.
Pleioblastus viridistriatus 'Chrysophyllus' - A couple of leaves survived.
Pseudosasa japonica "Japanese Arrow Bamboo" - A leaf survived.
Sasa tsuboiana - About 50% leaf damage.
Sasa veitchii - A couple of leaves survived.
Semiarundinaria yashadake 'Kimmei' - Total leaf kill.
Shibataea kumasaca - 50% leaf damage.

[bamboozal]

My F robusta died early last spring and I'm not sure why but I had observed that it was topkilled somewhere between +5 & +10F both winters I had it. It pushed a new shoot in early April, the shoot aborted and then the plant died off, maybe no energy left. It was a 2 year old 1 gallon I believe. The Wolong form for me has top killed also above +0F 3 years running, it currently is technically alive but only the first 3 inches of a culm that has a couple of leaves. My guess would be that both are not going to do well below +10F.

I am probably a poor gauge of Fargesia hardiness other than with the Rufa which does quite well here in summer & winter. It looks nice all year, is one the the first 3 to shoot, has a second shooting season later in the year and is sizing up nicely. I have tried 10-11 different members of the genus and I am totally unable to enjoy any of them but the Rufa form.

Thanks for sharing your experiences Brad. Much appreciated.

[CadyG]

My F robusta died early last spring and I'm not sure why but I had observed that it was topkilled somewhere between +5 & +10F both winters I had it. It pushed a new shoot in early April, the shoot aborted and then the plant died off, maybe no energy left. It was a 2 year old 1 gallon I believe. The Wolong form for me has top killed also above +0F 3 years running, it currently is technically alive but only the first 3 inches of a culm that has a couple of leaves. My guess would be that both are not going to do well below +10F.

Brad,
My robusta met the same demise. It was topkilled at around +5F, sent up a few weak shoots that aborted, and that was all. But a customer's 5 robusta plants, which I planted for her in a sheltered sunny courtyard 4 years ago, have flourished, though they are not tall. They get bushy, but have not yet made any culms that get higher than 6'.

[David]

Hello Brad,

This has been the hardest winter in the four years of my bamboo experience. We had 2 weeks of freezing temps with no break. The ground was frozen, and the leaves dessicated from the cold wind, and lack of water. I've got a lot of leaf burn this year that I have not had in the past.

Now to answer your question, the arcana looks good, but has about 10% burn. They are in 4 plantings along my drive, but well protected from wind due to cedar trees to their north and west. The mature grove from which I got these is more in the open, and probably had 20% leaf burn. This is the first winter out of 3 that I have seen any leaf burn on the arcana.

The stimulosa has only been in the ground for a year, but has very little burn. It also has some protection to the north.

[needmore]

David, thanks for the info. What else do you have with damage - in particular, what fared worse than the arcana & stimulosa - I assume the aurea forms are on that list, how about robert young, nigra forms, simonii, etal?

[David]

Brad, It's hard to compare the arcana and stimulosa, but I expect the stimulosa was the hardier especially factoring in its youth.

I have all the aurea family scattered around in protected locations, and they fared well with some but not excessive leaf burn. I have a holochyrsa in the open that has complete leaf burn, and some culm damage. I may have to move it.

All the vivax family did well with some of my younger plants showing a little burn, but nothing significant. This area seems ideal for vivax, however we have not had an ice Storm in several years, and that will tell the story.

The viridis look their typical yellow selves, but no leaf burn. The Robert Young look really good with minimal burn.

The nigra family looks exceptional good, but I have them in my most favored(protected) locations. Henon, bory, black,megurochiku, and shimadake all have none to minimal burn. The muchisasa, and punctata have more burn, but they are young plants.

The Q. tumidissinoda is toast, and an expensive lesson learned!

A. amabilis was a great surprise with only about 20% leaf burn this was its 2nd winter.

The semiarundinaria fortis looked great until my deer herd grazed it down! Probably ate it because it green in a sea of brown. I think it will come back OK. I think it is hardier than its rating.

About 50% burn on the simonii, but I planted it in early winter, so hard to tell yet.

Ph. violascens has complete leaf burn, but I purposefully have it on a NW exposed slope hoping to slow down its early shooting. It is also only a year old, but very well established rhizome/root system. I was a little surprised, but the culms look OK. The violascens rhizomes I got from Bill lost their leaves, but the base of the culms look a little green.

The bambusoides family did fairly well with none to extensive leaf burn. The big hardiness surprise was tanakae which has no burn! It may be as hardy or hardier than crookstem.